Island Life
by Bill K
Summary: Haruka stands to gain a significant new addition to her life, but perhaps lose the greatest thing in her life. Ami suffers a crisis of confidence. Plus Earth may be on the brink of an invasion from space.
1. Alien Invasion

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 1: "Alien Invasion"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2007 by Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha and Toei Animation and are used without permission, but with respect. Story is (c)2007 by Bill K.

* * *

19 April, 2007, Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wisconsin:

Daryl Atkinson went through the checklist of routine procedures for that period of the day. The afternoon had been quiet. Nothing unusual had occurred and long-range scanning of the heavens was being monitored by computer. It was just another day at the observatory. Pausing from his checklist to check his watch, Atkinson found it was five forty-seven pm.

"Thirteen more minutes to quitting time," he mused.

Thirteen more minutes until he could leave and be back in the arms of his beloved Sharon. The thought of Sharon brought back memories of their last encounter and the heights of passion that ensued. Obviously it was possible to reach such heights of passion. Now the question was could they reach it again - - or surpass it?

And would his wife buy the "working late" story again?

"Daryl," said his co-worker, Raymond Marais. Atkinson turned to him, wrenched from his memories of Sharon. "That meteor we've been tracking? It's entering the atmosphere. It's as big as we thought, too."

Atkinson walked over and peered over his co-worker's shoulder.

"Doesn't look like it's going to burn up, either," Marais continued.

"Must have some rock or metal composition to it instead of ice," Atkinson judged. "Do you have a potential impact area?"

"Course is plotted for," Marais began, inputting commands onto his console, "approximately one forty degrees east, thirty-eight degrees north." He looked up at Atkinson. "Central Japan, between Tokyo and Sendai."

"If we're lucky, it'll drift south and impact in the Pacific," Atkinson commented, frowning. "Still, we better warn the Japanese to be ready for it."

Marais nodded and went back to his console. Japan would know in moments of the meteor headed for them, if Australia, Russia or China hadn't already informed them, through internet communication. Then all the astronomy services of the world would watch realtime transmissions of the progress of the meteor until impact. Because of the potential threat to populated areas in Japan, Atkinson would have to remain at his post. He watched the computer display of the meteor's telemetry. A meteor of rock or metal large enough not to burn up in the atmosphere could do some damage if it landed in a populated area, particularly a densely populated area like Tokyo. This was potentially very bad news and Atkinson's grim expression reflected this.

Plus it meant his date with Sharon was off.

* * *

20 April, 2007, Tokyo, Japan:

As Daryl Atkinson watched the meteor in Wisconsin, it was seven forty-seven am in Tokyo. Haruka Tenoh was entering the home she shared with the love of her life. She wore blue track warmups and running shoes. Her brow was covered with a sweat band and perspiration coated her skin with a fine sheen. Closing the door behind her, she doffed her shoes and grabbed the towel she'd placed by the door before she'd gone for her morning run.

The towel draped across the back of her neck while she dabbed her face with the ends. The woman ambled leisurely down the hall toward the kitchen. Her body felt the familiar exhilarating fatigue of heavy exertion. The last vestiges of the adrenaline rush was wearing off. She was coming down from the runner's high she'd been on. Haruka paused in the doorway, hoping what she needed now would be there waiting for her.

Michiru looked up from her morning tea and smiled warmly. She sat at the table, a sensible yet appealing breakfast for two before her and the morning paper turned to the world events section. Haruka loved seeing her this way. She loved seeing Michiru a lot of ways, but this picture of domestic bliss gave the lanky blonde a sense of security. It was one of the things that helped her live what she liked to term her "island life". Her happiest times always seemed to be just her and Michiru, as if they were alone on an island with just each other.

For her part, Michiru loved seeing Haruka this way. Haruka always came back from running with her short hair tousled, her skin glowing with perspiration and the blood pumping underneath, and a light dancing in her eyes from the thrill that speed gave her. Michiru always seemed to be happiest when Haruka was happy. Michiru had reflected upon this when they first coupled and came to the amusing conclusion that they must be in love.

Haruka crossed over to the table, leaned in and kissed Michiru. The artist took it as just a friendly greeting at first, but as was often the case Haruka prolonged it unexpectedly. Michiru began to feel giddy and leaned up into the kiss. Finally they parted and Haruka flashed her that "bad boy" smile of hers.

"Strawberry jam this morning?" Haruka commented, licking the remnants of the jam off her lips that had transferred from Michiru's lips.

"You could have just looked at the toast," Michiru smirked.

"Where's the fun in that?" Haruka asked. She swiped a rice ball from Michiru's plate and gave her the naughty boy look again. Michiru felt her heart flutter for the thousandth time.

Then she felt it. Her mind focused on it for a second, disregarding everything else. The impression was unmistakable.

Looking up, she found Haruka already on the back porch. Rising, Michiru came out onto the porch with her mate. Haruka was staring up into the morning sky, looking northeast. Her mouth was thin and her eyes were intent upon the blue skies of morning in Japan.

"You felt it, too," Michiru said. It wasn't a question.

"Aliens," Haruka confirmed. "They're coming." She stared for a few more seconds, then turned to her mate. "You up for a drive?"

"Let me pack something first. You haven't had anything to eat yet," Michiru said, then added with a wry smile, "except my rice ball."

"And it was a good rice ball, too," Haruka smirked back.

The doorbell sounded. Leaving Michiru, Haruka headed for the door. Unless it was Setsuna, whoever it was and whatever they wanted would have to come back another time. They had a mission as senshi, a mission only they were chosen to do. It was something that took priority over everything else.

When she opened the door, Haruka didn't find Setsuna. She found a teenage girl. The girl had long sandy blonde hair running down her back and a pleasant face to Haruka's judgement. She was dressed in what Haruka assumed was casual to this generation: faded denim jeans and a patterned red flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves over a beige tube top. She wore gold hoop earrings in both ears. Haruka had never met the girl before, that she was sure of. But she couldn't help thinking the teen was related to someone she did know.

"Help you?" Haruka asked, masking her uncertainty with an air of indifference.

"Are you Haruka Tenoh?" the girl asked.

"Yeah," Haruka replied. "Look, if you're some fan, I don't give out autographs at home. My next appearance will be at Kentai Auto Parts . . ."

"I don't want an autograph," the girl snapped. Clearly Haruka's remark had insulted the teen. The lanky blonde put up her mask of indifference again.

"So what did you want?" Haruka asked. By now she could sense Michiru hovering a few feet behind her.

"Dad's in the hospital," the girl said with an aura of contempt. "I thought you might want to know." She turned to leave.

"Hey!" Haruka exclaimed. Her hand shot out and caught the girl's arm. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

The girl pulled her arm away and glared at Haruka for a moment.

"I'm your sister," she said finally.

* * *

The morning had been an exciting one for Kentaro Hotohori. The eight year old boy had been in the midst of breakfast when the civil defense sirens went off. Since the weather was clear and calm, there could be no tornadoes in the area. Intrigued, he ran to the front door and looked out into the countryside that surrounded his rural home. He hardly noticed when his two sisters and his mother joined him. He was too busy scanning the skies for some sign of what the emergency was.

Maybe Gamera and Gaos were fighting again, and here instead of Tokyo.

Warnings blared from a loudspeaker, but Kentaro couldn't understand what they were saying. It wasn't important at that moment anyway. What held his attention was how bright the morning sky was. It was like midday, and yet he could see peripherally the sun coming up over the horizon in the east. This light seemed to be coming from the northeast. It was just like in his prized DVDs of Gamera and Rodan, of fire coming out of the sky from space. Maybe it WAS Gamera. Dimly he noticed his mother leave them and go into the other room. She turned on the television and pulled up a news broadcast.

"What is it?" Kentaro's little sister whispered. Naturally she was afraid, because she was only four, and a girl besides.

"Mom?" inquired his older sister. She was eleven and thought she knew everything. She didn't know everything now.

"Get away from the door!" their mother called out. Kentaro looked back at her impatiently. "The government says it's a meteor. We have to go to the northwest corner of the house and wait for impact."

"What'll happen?" the younger sister whimpered.

The mother gathered her two daughters up while Kentaro hung back. "They say when it hits, it'll sound like a bomb going off," she told them calmly, trying to convey that they would be safe with her. "There could be an after shock, like when there's an earthquake. The safest place will be the northwest corner."

"But," whimpered the young girl, "isn't Sailor V going to stop it?" The Sailor V anime DVD was her favorite, along with The Little Mermaid.

"We need to be in a safe spot, Honey," prodded her mother, "in case Sailor V doesn't get there in time." And she let the two girls into the other room.

"Sailor V versus Rodan?" Kentaro exclaimed with wide-eyed enthusiasm. "Too cool!"

And out the door he raced. Kentaro was half-way down the path to the road when he heard his mother frantically call after him. He hated disobeying his mother, but he couldn't miss a chance to see Sailor V take on Rodan, after all. Kentaro got to the road and stared up into the sky again.

For a moment, it seemed that a huge ball of fire was in the sky above him and that it was hurling straight for him. Then he realized that the angle was wrong and it was headed down the road toward the rice fields by the undeveloped woodland next to the spring. He noticed an eerie silence surrounding him, then realized that every bird and insect around him had gone silent. Suddenly there was a high-pitched whoosh above him, much like the jets that occasionally flew over their rural section of Japan. Kentaro focused on the fireball above him. It whizzed over his head like a flying express train and shot southwest, thrusting hot air down onto him.

A mere second later, it hit. The earth shook with the impact and it reminded Kentaro of the earthquake he'd experienced three years ago. A huge plume of dirt and smoke rose up out of the far woodlands, much like the pictures of mushroom clouds he'd seen in history class. The sound of the impact rumbled through the fields and paddies like an August thunderstorm. For a moment, Kentaro stood and wondered if he should join his mother and sisters in the house.

Then he took off down the road at top speed. After all, he'd seen every Gamera, Gaos and Rodan movie ever made and nobody ever died in them. Giant monsters destroyed buildings, not people.

"Kentaro-kun!" he heard as he ran down the road. Glancing over, the boy saw his friend from school Ryounesko.

"Hey, Ryo-kun!" he said back as his friend trailed eight paces behind him. "Are you going to see the meteor, too!"

"Is it a meteor?" Ryo asked.

"That's what the television said!" Kentaro called. They were nearing the fields by the woods. "Hey, there's smoke! I bet you it is him!"

"Who?"

"Rodan!"

"Rodan's not real!" Ryo called back. "I bet it's Darth Vader!"

"Darth Vader doesn't travel in a fireball, stupid!" Kentaro retorted.

"He does when Han Solo hits him with a laser and breaches his core!" Ryo argued.

The two boys reached the edge of the woods and stopped to reconnoiter and catch their breath. A smoke plume was clearly visible from inside the woods and the path of felled trees was unmistakable. The air was thick with ozone and the acrid smell of scorched wood. Again, the only thing Kentaro could hear was the panting of himself and Ryo. No creatures were present.

"Come on," Kentaro waved, venturing into the woods. "Let's go look."

"Suppose we should?" Ryo asked.

"Sure! Maybe we'll actually see Rodan!"

"Rodan's not real!"

"Then maybe it's Gamera. He flies."

"You are so retarded," muttered Ryo. But he followed.

As they ventured further into the woods, the smoke grew thicker. Kentaro picked up the faint wail of emergency vehicle sirens in the distance. He quickened his pace. He wanted to see the meteor and who or what traveled in it before the adults came along and ruined it. Adults had no spirit of adventure.

The two boys reached the clearing made by the impact. They peered out from the underbrush with wonder. An impact crater sixty yards across yawned before them. Eagerly they scrambled up the dirt mound surrounding the crater and looked down into it. In the center of the crater was a huge, roughly ball-shaped rock. The fragment seemed hollowed out and the remnants were smoldering. The heat from the crater struck both boys full in the face.

"What do you suppose it is?" Kentaro wondered aloud.

"It's Darth Vader's ship," Ryo replied. "I told you it was Darth Vader."

"That's rock, retard. Darth Vader's ship is made of metal."

"It could have been changed into rock. Maybe that's what made it crash!"

"It looks like an egg," mused Kentaro. "Hey, Gamera's a turtle! Maybe he hatched from it and flew away!"

"Gamera's not real, retard!"

Kentaro was about to reply, but stopped and turned around. He'd heard something in the brush behind them. Ryo turned when he did and the two boys stared into the still brush. Nothing moved and no noise came.

"Did you hear something, too?" Ryo asked.

Kentaro shrugged. "It's probably just a fox or something."

Satisfied, the two boys turned back to the crater. To their surprise, the meteor was crumbling to pieces.

"Hey, what happened to it?" Kentaro exclaimed.

"I don't know," Ryo replied. "Maybe the crash broke it up into little bits."

The on-coming sirens grew louder. The boys turned to the sound.

"Come on, we better get out of here," Ryo said, nodding toward the road.

"Yeah," grumbled Kentaro.

As they headed for the road, Kentaro felt something wet on his arm. Brushing it off, he looked at his hand. The liquid was clear with a yellowish tint to it. Scowling, he wiped it on his pants.

"What's that?" Ryo asked.

"I don't know. I think I brushed against some bush and got some sap on me."

"Better hope it's not poison ivy," Ryo grinned.

"Yeah? Well let's find out if you're allergic, too!" Kentaro exclaimed. He lunged at Ryo and his friend burst into a run for the road, Kentaro trailing him and waving his hand.

And from concealment, two eyes watched them leave.

Continued in Chapter 2


	2. A Pocket Full Of Regrets

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 2: "A Pocket Full Of Regrets"

By Bill K.

A blue Fiat sped down the country road in the prefecture in which the meteor landed. Though news shows were only now breaking the story in Japan and around the world, emergency response teams were already in action. They joined the Fiat on the small road, drawing curious stares from the people who lived there and had their placid rural life disturbed. Though the Fiat seemed to be speeding recklessly along the narrow paths through rural Japan, a closer inspection revealed the skill with which each turn was handled.

"You've got the top down just to annoy me," Michiru complained for the sixth time. Her hand went to the scarf holding her green hair in place.

"I told you, I'm listening to the wind," Haruka maintained, her concentration on her driving.

"So you say," Michiru glanced cynically at her mate.

"It's true. The wind says we're close."

"All right," Michiru replied. Then her eyes narrowed. "The fact that it annoys me is just a bonus."

Haruka grinned.

The Fiat caught a piece of the berm and momentarily fish-tailed. Haruka compensated expertly and maintained course. Michiru glanced over at her again. Haruka was the only person she would trust at the wheel of a car at this speed. But then, Haruka was the only person she would trust in a lot of things.

"So what do you make of our visitor this morning?" Michiru ventured.

"I don't have a sister," Haruka replied thinly. "I was an only child."

"You don't see it, do you?" Michiru asked. Haruka shot her an inquiring glance. "Haruka, I remember what you looked like at sixteen. There's a strong resemblance in her to you at sixteen."

"Really?"

"Cut her hair and put her in a boy's school uniform and she could pass for you," Michiru told her. "And she's just about the right age. You ran away from home, what, sixteen years ago?"

Haruka shrugged. "OK, maybe she is my sister. She didn't seem too happy to see me. Maybe she doesn't like me for being a lesbian either."

"And perhaps she's over-wrought because her father's in the hospital," Michiru suggested. "Your father."

"Who hates me for what I am," Haruka scowled.

"Sixteen years ago. I know it's a bitter memory. I'm not saying he wants to make up and I'm not saying you have to even if he does. All I'm saying is, don't judge the daughter by the parents."

"I'm a little busy right now," Haruka grumbled.

"Agreed. Just don't dismiss it completely, OK?" Michiru asked. Haruka stayed tight-lipped. Michiru reached over and tickled her under her chin. "Come on. I know you."

"All right," Haruka sighed. "After this is over I'll look her up - - see if she wants to get to know me. But I'm not expecting much."

"You never do," Michiru smiled to herself.

They came up on a barricade and came to a stop. A member of the local police force came up to them.

"You're going to have to turn back," he informed Haruka. "This road is closed."

"What happened? Auto accident?" Haruka asked innocently.

"I'm not at liberty to say," the officer replied. "Please turn your car around."

Obediently Haruka turned around and headed back. When the officer at the barricade was busy letting an emergency vehicle through, she turned off into some brush. The two travelers got out of the car.

"Well it was worth a try," Michiru shrugged. "Guess we'll have to go in as senshi." Her henshin stick appeared in her hand. "Neptune Planet Power Make Up!"

"Uranus Planet Power Make Up!"

The sentry at the barricade turned when he heard the brush disturbed, but saw nothing. Sailor Neptune moved with uncanny speed and stealth, sprinting through the brush and leaping from tree to ground and back. And despite her prowess, Sailor Uranus easily out-distanced her. When Neptune arrived at the impact crater, she found Uranus already there.

The crater was roped off with yellow danger tape. Uranus was peering over the side of the crater. When Neptune joined her, she found the fragment of a large rock. It was almost egg shaped and the top portion was broken away and disintegrated.

"It almost looks like a huge piece of rock," Neptune commented. "But see how it's shaped? Almost like it was hollow. A hollow rock would have burned up in the atmosphere."

"Unless it was a ship of some kind," Uranus added. "Or something inside it that gave it extra mass. There's definitely something alien around here, and not just that thing. The wind is screaming it."

"It stands to reason," Neptune nodded. "I'm going to get a closer look at that debris before the government shows up."

She proceeded without further comment, trusting that Uranus would have her back. Naturally Uranus did. The tall senshi scanned the area, knowing something was here that didn't belong here - - just not knowing where. Glancing back at Neptune, she saw the senshi down in the crater, closely examining the debris. When Uranus turned back to scan the woods again, she found Sailor Pluto next to her.

"Forgive me," Pluto said. "I was detained."

"We went to pick you up, but you weren't home," Uranus told her.

"Yes," Pluto nodded. "I sensed the meteor as well and was en route to you, no doubt when you were en route to me. Had I thought to use my cell phone, we would not have missed each other."

"Getting daffy in your old age," Uranus smirked as she glanced back to Neptune. Pluto responded with a small smile of her own.

Neptune was making her way up the side of the crater. Uranus stooped down to give her a hand up. She climbed in a slightly undignified manner over the side of the crater, then smoothed out her skirt to regain some of her air of control.

"Hello, Pluto," Neptune smiled. "I'm sorry we missed you."

"Entirely my fault," Pluto assured her. "Did you learn anything?"

"Yes, our little meteor down there is decomposing by the minute," Neptune announced.

"Decomposing?" Uranus asked.

"Disintegrating, however you want to put it. I doubt there's going to be anything left down there in a couple of hours besides dust."

"Unstable composition," Pluto inquired, "or intelligent design?"

"I can't say for sure," Neptune said, putting her hand to her mouth. Immediately she realized she had dust on her hands and spat. "But the interior of that 'rock' could have been a cockpit at one time. It hasn't corroded enough to hide that fact."

"Then it is a craft?"

"Couple what I saw with what I'm feeling and I'm reasonably certain of it," Neptune proclaimed.

"Good enough for me," Uranus said. "Where do you think the little E.T. went? My senses say that way." She gestured vaguely to the south.

"I agree," Neptune nodded. She turned to Pluto. "Up for a hike in the woods?"

"I am ever ready," Pluto nodded. Together the three outer senshi ventured into the woods just moments before a scientific team from the Japanese government arrived at the impact crater.

* * *

Ami Mizuno exited the elevator and walked onto the floor of her apartment building that housed her apartment. She was alone, as usual. Her shift at the hospital had been ordinary. Since settling in as a staff physician at the hospital, despite repeated appeals from both the Emergency Room and the Communicable Diseases Lab that she settle there, Ami had fallen into a safe, comfortable routine. She tended to the sick, then she went home and read. The doctor resisted invitations from colleagues to socialize after work. She endured Usagi's efforts to drag her places and have fun. She evaded the concerned inquiries of Makoto, Rei and Minako about her general welfare. By being in a nice, safe, boring routine, Ami Mizuno didn't have to take risks and could remain comfortably numb.

And she was less at risk to be reminded of the death of Ryo Urawa. Though roughly half a year had passed since Ryo had died under her care, she still thought of him at inopportune times and it still hurt. She didn't cry any longer. But the tears lingered just beneath her eyelids. She found herself forgetting details of his face, but the memory of his hand going limp in hers was indelible. She knew intellectually that his condition was too grave and that she'd done all she could for him. But that still didn't stop her from wondering if she could have done more.

Though she hid it well from most people, those who knew her best saw the lingering pain. Each of the senshi had tried to console her, even Michiru. And Usagi had been such a constant in her life that Ami could justifiably ask her to share the rent. She adored them all for it, but . . .

"Hi, Ami," Usagi ventured timidly. The woman had been waiting by Ami's apartment door.

"Hello, Usagi," Ami sighed. She tried to conceal it, but she really didn't want to be dragged anywhere by Usagi just now.

"Now before you turn me down, please listen," Usagi said in a pre-emptive strike. "You know today is Rei's birthday, right?" Ami nodded. "Well, I wanted to take her out to dinner as sort of a surprise party present thingy. And you just have to come! It wouldn't be right if her friends weren't there to celebrate with her. Mina-chan is on break from filming her television show and she can be there. And Mako-chan's grandmother is sitting with Akiko, so Mako-chan is going to be there."

"Usagi," Ami began.

"And I know you still feel down about Urawa-kun," Usagi continued. "But do it for Rei. She needs to have her friends around her every so often. And do it for yourself. You deserve to have some fun, Ami, in spite of what you think. You can't mourn Urawa-kun forever. He wouldn't want you to."

"You're not going to take 'no' for an answer, are you?" Ami grimaced.

"If that's the answer you give me," Usagi whimpered. "But I hope it's not. Everybody wants you to come, Ami. Even Rei would - - if she knew about it."

Ami snorted out something that was close to a chuckle. Hope flared in Usagi's blue eyes.

"Everything you say is logical, Usagi," Ami began.

"That's a first," Usagi offered with a game smile. That drew a reluctant smile from Ami.

"All right," the doctor sighed. "Just let me get changed."

"Great! We've just got time to get to the restaurant!"

The restaurant in question was a small shop near Hikawa Shrine that served traditional Japanese cuisine. Usagi picked it because she recalled Rei speaking favorably of it once. Usagi and Ami entered and found Makoto waiting at their reserved table.

"Great! You were able to drag her here!" Makoto exclaimed as they approached. She ushered Ami into a chair next to her. "How are you doing, Ames?"

"I try not to think about him," Ami replied gamely.

"Never works, does it?" Makoto said sympathetically. "Believe it or not, you are getting better. You should have seen yourself three months ago."

"Thank you," Ami replied softly.

"So how are you and the baby doing?" Usagi asked.

"Mother and son are progressing nicely," Makoto glowed, patting her expanded abdomen. "Course it helps to have a great doctor handling things," and she nodded to Ami.

"Makoto, I told you the sex has yet to be determined," Ami warned.

"Ames, I'm going with 'mother's intuition' on this. I know it isn't scientific, but I can just feel it's a boy."

"Have you told Akiko yet?"

"Yeah. She thought it was great - - at first. I think she's beginning to figure out that she's going to have to share San-San and me now and I don't think she's too keen on the idea."

"I can give you a book that can help you deal with these problems," Ami told her. "Sibling resentment should be dealt with early."

"All you have to do is let her know she doesn't have any say in the matter," Usagi recommended. "After all, it's not like she can send her little brother back for a refund." She grinned ruefully. "Believe me, I tried."

Amid amused tittering, Makoto caught sight of the door opening. She pointed Usagi and Ami to it. Minako was escorting Rei in. Usagi jumped up to yell "surprise".

"What makes you think I wanted a surprise birthday party?" Rei demanded playfully, cutting her off.

"What makes you think we care what you want?" Usagi shot back playfully. "Sit down and enjoy it!"

"Way to keep another secret, Blabber-mouth," Makoto needled Minako as she sat down.

"Hey, you try to keep a secret from her with all that 'Priestess Mojo' of hers," grumbled Minako. "For all I know, she knows what Toshi-chan and I were doing last night."

"It doesn't take 'the sight' to know that," Rei purred. Minako's eyes narrowed.

"OK, no more shots. Let's let you enjoy your birthday, Rei," Minako smiled. "After all, you only turn a hundred once."

Usagi snorted with laughter. Then she noticed the melancholy look on Ami's face. Rei had already noticed it and her retort for Minako died in her throat. That caught Makoto's attention and soon they all noticed.

"Ami?" Usagi ventured timidly, grasping her friend's hand.

"I'm sorry," Ami apologized. "I was having fun, truly I was. Then I realized - - no, never mind."

"That Ryo would have enjoyed seeing us like this," Rei said eerily. Ami blushed. "Ami, it's OK to miss him. Just don't let it rule your life."

Ami felt her eyes stinging.

"You're right," she sighed. "I promise I'll try harder. Perhaps we should order now." She glanced at Usagi. "And I promise to hold Usagi back so Rei can get the first piece of birthday cake."

It took a second for everyone to realize that Ami had actually attempted humor, since it was so unusual. After that second, smiles bloomed all around the table. And Ami Mizuno felt that somehow she'd taken the first step toward recovery.

* * *

The underbrush, still soft with spring, moved pliantly as it parted for three pairs of legs. Moving slowly and steadily through the grove of trees and bushes, the three outer senshi continued their search. Sailor Neptune was at the point, her Deep Aqua Mirror up before her face. Though she stared into the glass and not where she was going, Neptune walked with confidence. Uranus and Pluto walked behind her and to either side, each ready to repel any attack that might be made.

"Have either of you noticed this peculiar secretion on some of the leaves and branches along this path?" Pluto inquired as the trio moved.

"No," Uranus replied. "Is it important?"

"Perhaps. Such secretions are not consistent with the plant life in this grove. Additionally, I have also noted discoloration around the secretions."

"Meaning?"

"It would indicate that there is an agent in the secretion - - perhaps the secretion itself - - that is attacking the chlorophyl distribution system of the plant. I have not witnessed anything that would do such a thing, nor do I know of anything native to this planet."

"A calling card from our visitor?" Uranus wondered.

"Perhaps," Pluto responded cryptically. "Perhaps it is an unconscious secretion of it or its life support system. Perhaps it is a means to mark a trail back to the impact crater. Perhaps it is injured."

"One way to find out," Uranus commented.

"Get ready," Neptune advised the others with a far away voice as she stared into the mirror. "We're getting close."

They entered a small glen in the woods. At the opposite end of the roughly twenty yard clearing was a thicket of brush and trees. Uranus noted that it would be a perfect hiding place. Glancing at Neptune, she saw her partner had the same idea.

"It's in that thicket," Neptune said. "Fan out. Let's not give it anywhere to run. I don't feel like spending all day tracking it down again."

Pluto and Uranus spread out so they flanked the thicket. Neptune remained still, staring into the mirror the entire time. When her partners were in place, she began to advance.

"Come out now," Neptune announced. "We know you're here. Surrender peacefully and we can avoid a conflict." Since there was no way to know if the alien understood her words, Neptune made sure to keep her tone stern and commanding without trying to sound belligerent.

Pluto kept her staff ready, but seemed calm and patient. Uranus, on the other hand, stood tensely, her hands at her sides and her fingers spread, as she watched Neptune advance on the thicket. She was ready to launch her attack at a moment's provocation. That was one of the bad parts of being a senshi: standing there watching the most important thing in her life put herself at risk. Neptune took another cautious step toward the thicket and then another. Uranus swallowed and forced herself to breathe. The distance from the thicket to Neptune grew smaller. Neptune took one more step.

And suddenly a blur lunged out from the thicket. Neptune took a step back, but Uranus saw she'd be too slow.

"WORLD SHAKING!" Uranus roared.

Energy gathered in her hands, then shot forward, ripping up turf as it sped toward the shape. It was now visible as vaguely humanoid, but with pale green skin. It had an oblong head, a huge, distended cranium and large black eyes, holes for ears and a nose, and a slit of a mouth. A life-support suit and helmet covered its spindly body. As the attack sped toward it, Uranus could see that it was headed away from Neptune in an effort to escape, not at her. But it was too late to recall the attack.

The creature turned just in time to take the force full on. The impact sent it flying, rocketing past Pluto and into a clump of trees. All three senshi moved to follow. Though Pluto was closer, Uranus easily overtook her and was first to arrive. She found the creature about fifty feet from where Pluto had been. When the other senshi arrived, they found her staring.

The environmental helmet was cracked open like a broken egg. Inside the environmental suit, the creature's remains were quickly liquefying. Even the suit itself was starting to decay and the runoff from the creature's body was turning the grass beneath it brown.

"I didn't hit it that hard," Uranus mumbled.

"Clearly it was a fragile life form," Pluto responded.

"So was it here by accident or by design?" Neptune wondered aloud. "And if it was by design, was that design belligerent?"

"We may never know," Pluto said.

Suddenly Neptune bent over and began coughing. After several deep, gasping coughs, the senshi finally righted herself. Uranus grasped her to steady her.

"What was that?" Uranus asked.

"I must have gotten some more dust up my nose," Neptune sighed. "I'm all right now." She peeled off her glove and used it as a bag to scoop up some specimens of the decomposing alien and its suit. The glove was knotted at the open end and she turned to the others. "Perhaps we should be getting back? I'd like to know what Mercury's computer makes of what's left of our visitor."

And together they headed back.

Continued in Chapter 3


	3. The Comfort Of Family

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 3: "The Comfort of Family"

By Bill K.

After a quick, efficient shower and a routine of preparation calculated to maximize her morning grooming in minimum time and effort, Ami Mizuno emerged from her bathroom. She brought in her three morning papers, from London and Beijing as well as the local Tokyo paper, as her breakfast cooked in the microwave. Placing the papers on the table, Ami moved to the microwave and brought out her nutritious, sensible breakfast, placing it on her plate.

Unbidden as she set her breakfast table, her memory recalled a conversation she'd once had with Makoto on her choice of breakfast. Makoto had been aghast at how utterly bland the meal Ami described had sounded, and became almost rebellious when she heard that Ami had the same meal every day without change. They'd debated long and hard, Makoto refusing to be swayed by Ami's logical arguments over the benefit to a person's health her choices for breakfast provided. In the present time, Ami smiled to herself at the memory. Rather than be insulted, she recalled being amazed by the passion Makoto had for the subject, even stimulated. The debate gave her access to Makoto's thinking process and her belief system and Ami felt it brought her a little closer to Makoto. And though Makoto was hardly as compelled to taunt as Minako was, she got in her gentle little digs. They even became a source of humor between the two. It made her think of the birthday lunch for Rei the previous day. Makoto's little joke about the nutrition value of the cake Usagi had bought Rei sailed over everyone else's head.

But Ami got it.

It had been a fun day. She hadn't had many fun days recently. Usagi had been right, as usual. When it came to matters of lifting someone's spirits, she seemed to know best.

"I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Ryo," Ami whispered to no one, her face growing melancholy. "You would have enjoyed it."

Forty-five minutes later, breakfast was done. The papers were read front to back and the dishes were cleaned and put away to dry. She was just doing some last minute primping before heading to the hospital when her door buzzer sounded.

"Michiru? Haruka?" Ami exclaimed upon finding the two at her door. Her eyes shifted to a plastic bag in Michiru's hands. Inside was one of her gloves, lumpy as if it contained something and the white cloth discolored to a yellowish-green. "What's that?"

"Remnants of yesterday's meteor crash," Michiru told her.

"Really!" gasped Ami. Instantly the scientific curiosity inborn in her took over. She reached out and took the bag from Michiru, examining it intently.

"We'd like to get your computer's analysis of this," Michiru said. "There was more in that meteor than just rock." Ami looked at her, puzzled.

"We had a visitor," Haruka informed her.

"AN EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL?" Ami goggled. "Where is it? What is it like?"

"You're," Michiru grimaced, "holding what's left of it." Ami grew alarmed. "There was a confrontation, and it proved to be - - somewhat fragile."

"Oh dear," Ami swallowed. "I hope there won't be repercussions."

"There's no hurry on this, Ami," Michiru continued. "We just wanted to catch you before you went to work. We dropped by yesterday, but you were apparently out."

"Yes, it was Rei's birthday," Ami murmured, examining the bag again.

"Oh. I'm sorry we missed it," Michiru replied diplomatically.

"I'll start an analysis after I get home from work," Ami nodded. Then she looked up suddenly at Michiru. "Could you do a drawing of what the extra-terrestrial looked like? And any vehicle it may have traveled in?"

Michiru smiled. "I think I can do that."

"And please, be as detailed as possible!"

"Anything for a fellow water baby," Michiru grinned. Then she touched Ami's hand. "And it's nice to see you enthusiastic about something again. We were worried about you."

Ami flushed slightly. She bowed her head and nodded.

* * *

Ayoshi Hotohori peeked in on her son, Kentaro. The boy lay so still in his bed. His eyes were closed. His features were calm. For a moment, she dared to hope he was over the worst of it.

Then he began coughing. Her brow furrowed. It was a rougher cough than before. And his chest spasms were much more violent than before. When they didn't subside, Ayoshi went in and helped him sit up. The boy bent forward and tried to cough up something that just wouldn't come up. When the fit finally subsided, the boy was gasping for breath. Forcing down her panic,  
Ayoshi held her son and rubbed his chest until he could get enough air.

"Did that help, Kentaro-kun?" she whispered in his ear.

The boy shook his head. "Still hurts," he croaked out in a raspy voice not his own.

Ayoshi felt his forehead. There was still no fever. This was beyond her. Colds, flu, she could treat those. This wasn't either one. A floorboard creaked and Ayoshi glanced back. It was little four year old Ai. She stood peering around the doorway, barely restrained terror in her young eyes. At that moment, Ayoshi came to a decision.

"Get ready to go, Ai-chan," Ayoshi said, trying to remain calm. "We've got to make a trip in the car."

"Where are we going?" she whimpered.

"We've got to take your brother to the hospital," Ayoshi told her. "He's very sick."

"How sick?"

Ayoshi sighed. "Sicker than - - than I can treat. He needs to see a doctor."

"But what about Ayumi-chan?" the girl asked. "She's at school."

"I'll leave her a note. Ayumi can take care of herself until your father gets home."

Ai just stood there, frozen by her fears.

"Go," her mother prodded and the girl moved. With the herculean strength of a concerned mother, Ayoshi got her son up and into a coat and pants. Despite the warmth of the spring day, she took no chances in his condition. She then carried her boy to the car.

* * *

Dr. Ami Mizuno walked down the corridor of the hospital, measuring her stride against the wheelchair that the orderly next to her was pushing. In the wheelchair was Nansi Otokiri. The woman, at fifty-two, had been hospitalized with a severe foot infection for several weeks. She was now being released and young Dr. Mizuno was particularly grateful, because they'd managed to avoid amputating any part of the foot.

"I'm sure you're happy to be going back home, Mrs. Otokiri," Ami said as she escorted the woman out.

"Yes, Dr. Mizuno, I am. I hate hospitals," the woman sighed. "Nothing personal."

"It's all right," Ami smiled. "I quite understand. I'm glad we were able to get you past your trouble."

"Thanks to you," Mrs. Otokiri said. "I was very fortunate to get you for a doctor. You're one of the best doctors I've ever had."

"Thank you," Ami replied. "Now you're not going to let your foot get into this kind of situation again, are you?"

"No, Doctor. I've learned my lesson. Keep the toenails clean and trimmed and go to the doctor at the first sign of swelling or discoloration."

"Very good. Is someone picking you up?"

"My son. He's a middle manager for Toshiba." Mrs Otokiri looked up at Ami. "He's not seeing anyone at the moment and he's very cute. Perhaps you'd like to come down and meet him?"

"Um," Ami stammered, blushing, "I'm - - I have other patients to see. Take care, Mrs. Otokiri."

"If he's as cute as you say, maybe I ought to meet him," smiled the orderly, a burly young man. As the door closed on Mrs. Otokiri's response, Ami smothered a laugh. Then she spotted her mother waiting at the nurse's station.

"Another patient successfully treated?" Dr. Mizuno the elder inquired.

"Yes," Dr. Mizuno the younger nodded. "Fortunately I was able to halt the infection before it became gangrenous."

"Another success for the brilliant young doctor everybody in the hospital is raving about," the elder Mizuno said proudly. "Isn't it much more logical to dwell on those victories than a single defeat?"

"Mother, you know it isn't that simple," Ami frowned, looking down. "Ryo was - - more than just a patient."

"I know," the older, though still handsome woman nodded. "I imagine I would feel much of what you're feeling if your father passed on, in spite of everything he hasn't done with his life. People who touch you deeply are missed when they pass."

Ami nodded.

"I still don't comprehend, though, why you insist that it's your fault he died."

"I am not blaming myself," Ami retorted. "I fully comprehend that Ryo had massive thoracic and abdominal trauma and that his chances were poor from the start."

"But deep in your heart, you blame yourself for not finding the miracle cure that would have saved him. I realize you don't accept that postulation, but it's there. You just don't see it because you're too close to the situation."

"Yes, Mother," Ami sighed.

"You forget," her mother smiled patiently, "that I'm still expert at reading the tone of your voice. That's your 'I don't want to discuss this anymore' tone. Ami, stand back from the problem. Try to examine it with your brain and not your heart. You'll see I'm right."

"Yes, Mother," Ami said softly.

"And that's your 'humor the elder who doesn't really know as much as she thinks' tone."

"I really hate it when you do that, Mother," Ami frowned.

"I know. I only do it because I care. I don't like seeing you punish yourself this way,  
particularly when you've got no reason to punish yourself. Think about what I said."

Ami's gaze dropped to the floor. Eventually, she nodded. The maternal hug she received was quite gratifying.

* * *

"This isn't a good idea," Haruka murmured sourly. A blue Fiat expertly sped through late morning Tokyo traffic. Michiru sighed patiently.

"Haruka, please just try," she said. "That's all I'm asking. I went to the trouble of tracking down which hospital your father is in. It isn't going to kill you to try."

"We could have aliens running around the area," Haruka grumbled, concentrating on her driving.

"As far as I can sense, yesterday's visitor was the only one. Do you sense otherwise?"

Haruka remained silent.

"Until Ami can do her analysis on the remains, that area of inquiry is stalled. We have plenty of time to do this."

"It's not going to be pleasant," Haruka warned thinly.

"Haruka," Michiru said, her hand gently touching her partner's thigh, "I've experienced your parents. I know they've never approved of - - either of us. But I've also experienced what an illness or, the gods forbid, a terminal experience can do to change a person's outlook and attitude. My mother actually grew up after she faced down her cancer - - and it brought us closer together. The same might just happen with your folks."

"Yeah, right," Haruka muttered bitterly.

"All right, maybe it won't. But if there's a chance to salvage the relationship, you have to try or you'll regret it some day." Michiru rubbed the thigh beneath her palm. "Besides, you have a sister now. Maybe this is a chance to connect with her. Maybe this is a chance to give some family back to yourself."

"You're the only family I need," Haruka maintained stonily.

"No I'm not," Michiru calmly reiterated. "Give them a chance. Give yourself a chance."

Haruka's jaw set. "Only for you."

Michiru smiled.

The hallway of the hospital ward was clean and barren of germs, but also barren of charm and warmth. No matter how hard the staff tried to disguise the fact, it looked like a warehouse for the infirm. For Michiru, it brought back unpleasant memories of her mother's bout with cancer. It was a bout she survived, but the fight itself was not a cherished memory for the lovely artist. Glancing at Haruka, she could see her mate's palpable apprehension. Her arms slithered around Haruka's left arm and held on. Haruka looked down at her and she gave the woman an encouraging smile. Haruka tried to smile, but couldn't. Still, she nodded her gratitude over the gesture.

Arriving at the room, the couple cautiously peered in. There were three people in the room. In bed was Haruka's father, Gert. Upon seeing him again, Michiru recalled Haruka's biography of him: An executive with the Bank of Switzerland stationed in Tokyo, the third son of a historically monied Swiss family. When Haruka had first described him to her, Michiru couldn't help but reflect back onto her own father. He, too, was imposing, strict and disciplined, conservative and perhaps just a little remote.

Refocusing on reality, Michiru surveyed the situation. Gert was still as tall, still as blond and as European as Michiru remembered him being. However, laying in the hospital bed with intravenous tubes connected to him and the vitality sucked from his already pale natural complexion, he seemed less imposing.

Sitting by the bed was his wife, Haruka's mother Himeko. The years were evident on her face, which was far more lined than Michiru recalled, as well as on her thick black hair, which was beginning to gray, and on her already small stature, which stooped a little with the beginnings of osteoporosis. Her expression, though, was even more humorless than ever - - understandable given the circumstances.

Standing at the foot of the bed was Haruka's sister. She still wore jeans, but had switched to a conservative white blouse. Again Michiru marveled at the resemblance this girl had to Haruka at sixteen. She was just a few inches shorter and had a little more of her mother's round face. But she had the same lanky build, the same penetrating blue eyes and the same sandy blonde hair Haruka had inherited from her father.

The youngest Tenoh was the first to notice their entry. She seemed surprised by their presence, but as the seconds passed it began to morph into respect and gratitude. That, though, was short-lived.

"What are YOU doing here?" Himeko hissed. Michiru saw the naked loathing in the woman's eyes and her heart sank. She clutched even more tightly onto Haruka's arm.

"I heard he was sick," Haruka replied tightly. "I wanted to see how he was."

"His condition is none of your concern!" Himeko snapped. "Perhaps if you'd done the right thing and become a woman he could be proud of, instead of what you are, it would be! But his condition is only the concern of members of THIS FAMILY!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Michiru noticed Haruka's sister flinch. Haruka felt like stone next to her.

"Sorry I bothered you," Haruka mumbled. Though Michiru tried to hold onto her and keep her in place, Haruka shrugged her off and walked out of the room. The artist stared after her, wanting to go after her. But there was something she had to say first.

"There aren't words," Michiru hissed, whirling on Himeko Tenoh, "vile enough to accurately describe you." She turned and stalked out, Himeko's look of imperious disdain burned into her memory.

Michiru started to pick up the pace in an effort to catch up with Haruka. But she found Haruka at the nurse's station silently waiting for her. Michiru walked up to her love, caught her around the woman's torso with her arms and pressed her head into Haruka's chest.

"I'm sorry, Haruka," Michiru whispered through welling tears. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I thought I was helping."

"It's no more than I expected," Haruka replied with that aloof air she took when something or someone had hurt her and she didn't want anybody to know. "Nothing will change some people."

Michiru felt Haruka's hand stroking her hair. She looked up timidly at her love.

"You were right, though," Haruka told her. "I did need to take the chance."

Michiru wasn't sure if Haruka meant it or if she was just saying it for Michiru's benefit. At the moment, she didn't care. As she pressed her head against Haruka's breast, Michiru's arms tightened around the woman's torso, trying to hug the hurt out of her mate's body.

Unseen by either of them, Haruka's sister stood at the end of the hall, peering out from the doorway to her father's room. She witnessed the tender act between her sister and the charming green-tressed artist. A call from her mother pulled the girl back in, though reluctantly

They had each other. It would be enough to get them by. Arm in arm, Haruka and Michiru headed for the elevators. They'd go home, Michiru would treat Haruka to a sumptuous meal, and then she'd spend the evening trying to mend the crack in her lover's heart. Nothing but tender loving care for her Haruka tonight. Nothing but doting love and affection. She'd make Haruka forget this nasty business ever happened.

"COUGH!" Michiru exclaimed, lurching forward as her lungs violently tried to expel something.

"Michiru?" Haruka inquired.

She tried to reassure her love, but suddenly couldn't get enough wind to speak. Again her lungs tried to clear the path of her breathing tube to take in air. Quickly the cough took hold of her, becoming a raking spasm that took control of her entire chest. Robbed of strength to hold herself up, Michiru went limp, her fall forward halted only when Haruka grasped her by the arms. Her mind reeled. All she could do was cough. The room began to spin around her. Black spots appeared before her eyes as she struggled for enough breath to stay conscious.

Finally, blessedly, her coughing spell ceased. Gasping in lungs full of air, Michiru distantly heard Haruka scream for a doctor. She wanted to reassure her love that she was all right now, but she didn't yet have the ability to properly work her strained and sore vocal cords.

Then Michiru saw the spatter of blood at her feet directly beneath her. She tasted the copper in her mouth. Her hand went up and brushed across her lips, then came up into her field of vision. They were smeared with thin streaks of red. Confused, frightened, Michiru looked up at Haruka, even as two orderlies from the hospital gently eased her into a wheelchair. Michiru could see that Haruka was more scared than she felt. Haruka was nearly frantic and at that moment Michiru swallowed her fear for her lover's sake.

"Ma'am," a nurse said to Michiru, kneeling down before her, "we're going to take you down to emergency and find out what's wrong. Please remain calm. We're going to do everything we can for you."

"Yes, of course," Michiru croaked out. She held her hand up for Haruka to hold, because she knew Haruka would need to hold it. She felt Haruka's hand close around it and allowed herself to feel gratitude for the way it made her feel, too. Then the elevator came and everyone headed down to emergency.

Continued in Chapter 4


	4. Threat from Beyond

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 4: "Threat From Beyond"

By Bill K.

Curled up on her by now traditional perch on the windowsill, Luna lazily opened one eye. From her vantage point, she could look over Usagi's shoulder when she was at her art board and see how she was doing. Though the cat spent a good deal of her day on the sill, she liked to check on Usagi from time to time, despite all the teasing she got from Artemis about being meddling and over-protective.

"Those are going to make you fat," she commented lazily as Usagi paused between inking panels to nibble on a cookie. "I'm amazed they haven't already done so."

"Leave me alone!" Usagi roared back. "These cookies were a present from Mom. It'd be disrespectful if I didn't eat them."

"Only you could find that logical," Luna replied with an arched eyebrow. "What page are you on?"

"Six," she mumbled, cookie in her mouth. "See! I'm still on schedule!"

Luna smiled to herself. The cat had taken it upon herself to keep Usagi going on drawing her new assignment, "Secret Agent Angel". Despite still working with Marie Baishaku and having the added creative opportunity of penciling as well as inking, Usagi was having trouble with the assignment. She couldn't, or wouldn't, articulate why, but Luna knew. It was the genre of the series. "Secret Agent Angel" was a spy thriller, while her previous assignment had been a romantic comedy. And while the feature had shojo overtones, it was still primarily action oriented. Luna could see it was a genre that Usagi didn't have any creative feel for. This was causing her to have more creative blocks in her layouts and as a result she would fall behind on her deadlines. Then once she got something on paper, she had to rush through the inks to get the job done on time.

The cat snuggled on the windowsill. As long as she was on schedule, the cookies were motivation and Luna felt Usagi could indulge herself. When they became a distraction, though, that's when she'd act.

The doorbell roused Luna again. She peered up as Usagi went to answer it. At the door was Toji Uchida. Luna craned her neck to watch as Usagi cheerfully interacted with him. Uchida was nineteen and still in art school. Usagi had hired him on the recommendation of one of her old instructors to do the lettering on "Secret Agent Angel" after classes. It was a logical step, as Usagi despised lettering and it let her keep up with her deadlines.

Still, Luna watched them closely. Toji Uchida possessed both an emerging physical beauty that Luna noticed immediately and a youthful exuberance that Usagi instantly took to. With his thick, tousled black hair, his penetrating brown eyes and his boyish mouth, Luna also noted Toji had an alarming natural sensuality that seemed almost unconscious. He and Usagi seemed to naturally hit it off, because Usagi had an innate ability to charm as well. They continued to talk long after she and Toji had traded lettered pages for unlettered. Luna took particular note of how Usagi's right hand kept brushing and playing with her hair.

After a far longer time than Luna felt comfortable with, Toji excused himself and Usagi closed the door. She entered the room looking over the finished pages.

"Oh, Uchida's work is just gorgeous!" Usagi squealed.

"He has a talent for calligraphy?" Luna queried.

Usagi glanced quizzically at Luna. "Well, I don't know about that. But he sure can letter!"

Luna shook her head.

"This is so much better than what I was doing!" Usagi sighed.

"You're getting particularly chummy with Uchida-san, aren't you?" Luna pointed out.

"Well, he's a nice guy!" Usagi exclaimed. Then she smiled saucily. "And he's REALLY cute."

"And you're really married."

"I KNOW THAT! Mamo-chan's the only man for me," huffed Usagi. Then she smirked again. "But Uchida is still REALLY cute."

"Just keep the former in mind, Usagi," Luna warned. "And tend to your schedule! You must finish this page and page seven before four so you can start dinner!"

"SLAVE DRIVER!" Usagi bellowed, then flung herself back into her chair.

* * *

Across the district, at the hospital, things were decidedly less light-hearted. Ami's day had not gone as well as she might have hoped, given that one of her patients was suffering from a complex list of maladies which, coupled with her advanced age, didn't make her prognosis very good. Though she was trying her best to separate the cases, Ami couldn't help but see Ryo Urawa's face on the patient laying in bed whenever she checked on the woman. She had spent all of her break time pondering, going over her course of treatment again and again trying to spot something that might miraculously pull this woman back from the terminal fate she was teetering toward.

On top of that, the hospital was buzzing with the case that was currently in the Isolation Ward. Ami had only heard bits and pieces of the gossip. She knew that someone came in with a strange respiratory ailment that defied initial attempts at identification. The patient had been confined to the Isolation Ward as a precaution in case the cause of the ailment was infectious. If she wasn't worrying about her patient, Ami might have looked the particulars of that case over, just to satisfy her insatiable curiosity.

"So how's your day going, Mizuno?" one of her colleagues asked. Ami glanced at him. It was Dr. Kenji Mizuzuki, another first year resident at the hospital. He was a competent doctor, but he seemed more concerned with money than with his patients. And Ami couldn't shake the suspicion that his gaze was lingering on her bottom whenever her back was to him.

"Nothing adverse has happened," Ami commented. "I'm worried about one of my patients, though. She's an older woman with heart and circulatory problems. I'm not sure she has the strength to get past them."

"Yeah, those old folks can really lower the batting average," Mizuzuki nodded and Ami felt like hitting him. "Did you hear about the celebrity in the Iso-Ward?"

"I heard there was someone in Isolation. Is it a celebrity?"

"Yeah. That high-brow violinist. What was her name? The one that's shacked up with the race car driver."

Mizuzuki, to his surprise, watched Ami go pale. A moment later, she was running down the hall to the elevator as fast as her knee-length navy business skirt would allow her.

She arrived at the Isolation Ward and went in using her key card. After a cursory greeting to the nurse on duty, Ami plucked the chart out of its holding rack and looked, absently mumbling a query for permission. Her great brain quickly assimilated all the information on the chart. Something was causing hemorrhaging in the tissue of the lungs. Naturally the body was reacting with increased mucus flow to expel the irritant, but it wasn't working. This only increased the risk to the patient. If the problem wasn't reversed, Michiru could either bleed to death, drown in her own blood, or choke to death on mucus.

But there was no apparent cause. X-rays and toxicology revealed no reason for the hemorrhage.

"Ami," a voice, haunted and in pain, rose up from a distance. Ami looked up from the chart.

"Haruka!" and Ami quickly closed the gap between them. Haruka looked worn and fragile, a state Ami couldn't recall ever seeing her in. "Haruka, what happened?"

Haruka stood like a zombie for a moment. "She started coughing. It was a really bad fit. I thought she was going to collapse for a moment. Just before she stopped, she coughed up blood. They brought her here after the doctor in the Emergency Room couldn't help her. And they've been poking and sticking and scanning me for the last few hours, too. I-I guess I don't have it." Haruka refocused on Ami. "What is it? What's wrong with her? They won't tell me anything!"

"According to her chart, something is in her respiratory system," Ami told her, unvarnished because that's what Haruka would want. "It's causing blood to seep into her lungs. That and increased mucus flow is what's causing the coughing fit."

"So why don't they help her?" Haruka fumed.

"They don't know what got into her lungs," Ami answered. "We can't treat a patient if we don't know what to treat."

For a moment, Haruka looked like she wanted to break something. Regaining control of herself - - barely - - the woman merely pounded her right fist on her thigh.

"Was there any evidence before the spell of her being sick?" Ami asked.

"No. None. We drove here, we visited my Dad . . ."

"Your father's here, too? For what?"

"Heart attack."

"I see. That would rule out contamination from him or something in his room. Has she been separate from you at any time today?"

"She went to the store this morning for some stuff for dinner," Haruka shrugged. "We were driving with the top down, Ami. That wouldn't have anything to do with this, would it?"

"At the moment," Ami replied delicately, "I can't rule that out. It's possible she inhaled something." As she expected, Haruka pounded her fist into her thigh again. "Haruka, there's no evidence yet to point to that as a cause. There's no logical point in blame . . ."

"If I did this to her," Haruka gasped, clearly on the verge of panic. "If I did this to her . . ."

Their attention was grabbed by the duty nurse. She was on the phone, summoning one of the attending physicians in the Isolation Ward. Moments later, divested of his anti-contamination suit, a wisened old man with the bearing of someone who'd dealt with disease all his life came out and walked over to the desk.

"The fax came from Ishido General," the nurse reported.

She handed the fax to the doctor. He read it with grim concentration.

"Ishido General confirms it," the doctor said.

"Confirms what?" Ami inquired. Haruka hung back, but her interest was piqued, too.

"Who are you?" the doctor demanded.

"Dr. Ami Mizuno. I'm a friend of Kaioh-San. Is there new information on her condition?"

The doctor mulled over his next move. "Yes, I guess you could say that. But this doesn't leave this room, understand?" Ami nodded. "Ishido General Hospital is a rural facility a couple of prefects over. They have eight patients with the same respiratory symptomology as Kaioh-San does."

He turned to the duty nurse.

"Notify the Ministry of Health, specifically the infectious disease division," he told her. "We may have the beginnings of an epidemic here if we don't get a handle on this."

Suddenly Haruka's hand shot out. She seized the doctor by the upper arm. He looked up at her, dwarfed by the lanky woman, and found a gaze as intense as any he'd ever seen.

"Wait a minute!" Haruka hissed. "What about Michiru?"

The doctor steeled himself and Ami instantly recognized the signs.

"We're doing everything we can," was his response.

* * *

Luna looked up from her curled up position. Usagi was glancing off into space. That was not an unusual thing to see. Usagi was easily distracted when she didn't "feel" a story she was illustrating. The cat glanced at the clock.

"Usagi," the cat spoke up. "It's nearly three. How far along are you?"

Usagi didn't respond.

"Usagi?"

"Hmm?" and the blonde came back from space. "What did you say?"

"Is something . . ." Luna began to ask. The signal from her senshi link to Artemis interrupted her.

Frowning, the cat rose, stretched until her back couldn't arch anymore, then leaped to the floor and scampered over to the communications link. Her paw pressed the stud and her favorite distraction appeared on the view-screen.

"Hi, Gorgeous," Artemis smiled.

"Can we keep a professional tone on this frequency, please," huffed Luna, though secretly his greeting amused her. "Is there something to report?"

"I've just spent the day pouring over a report I just pulled off of the emergency bands," Artemis told her. "The Ministry of Health is headed out to some farming community about thirty kilometers southwest of Tokyo. Apparently some of the local citizens are coming down with some sort of respiratory ailment."

"You suspect foul play?" Luna inquired.

"Yeah," Artemis nodded. "This is the same area that meteor landed in yesterday - - and the same area Pluto reported the outers encountered that alien."

"There's a connection?"

"That's too many coincidences in my book. I don't have an A to B to C trail, but I'd bet my whiskers on it. I'm going to do some digging. You notify the senshi and tell them to be ready to move if necessary."

"Consider it done, Artemis. I'll notify Makoto first. She'll need time to arrange for a sitter," Luna commented.

"I've already told Minako. That way it's had enough time to sink in through the blonde. Out," and Artemis disconnected as Luna tried to smother a laugh.

Before she established a connection with Makoto, Luna glanced at Usagi. Usagi would be told last, since she was in easy reach. But her gaze lingered. Usagi was still staring off into space.

"Usagi?" the black cat inquired. Usagi didn't respond. "Usagi, what is it?"

After a few seconds, Luna's inquiry registered. Usagi shook herself and looked at the cat as if seeing her for the first time. The woman seemed confused and agitated.

"Usagi, are you sensing something?"

"Um," Usagi murmured, tentative and confused. "Maybe. I'm not sure. Something's wrong. I just don't know what."

Luna glanced at the drawing board. Page seven was uninked, so she'd been staring for a while.

"Perhaps this is connected," Luna told her. "There's something amiss in the prefecture where that meteor landed yesterday. The senshi need to be ready to move, just in case."

"All right," Usagi nodded tentatively. "I'll be ready."

"Good," Luna nodded, then turned back to the communications link. "Perhaps after I've contacted everybody, I should sound out Haruka or Michiru - - get more insight . . ."

"THAT'S IT!" Usagi cried. Luna whirled on her.

"What?"

"That's what I'm feeling!" Usagi gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Something's happened to Michiru! Something bad"

* * *

Off shift, Ami eased her car out of the hospital's garage and into Tokyo traffic. After her shift had ended, Ami had returned to the Isolation Ward to see how Michiru was doing. There had been no progress in finding what had infected her, nor was there any new information from Ishido General. Every possible bacteriological, chemical or particulate screen had been run on her without success. X-rays, CAT-scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging all came up blank. By the standards of modern medicine, she was perfectly healthy.

Yet she'd had two more violent coughing spells and coughed up blood each time. Each attack seemed to leave her weaker.

Haruka stood outside the Isolation Room, peering in through an observation window. She refused to move. All the hospital personnel in the Isolation Ward were unable to change the woman's mind. Even Ami couldn't convince her to leave. It was then that Michiru's physician decided Haruka could stay, for Michiru's benefit as much as for Haruka's.

As she drove, Ami turned the problem over in her mind, trying to attack it logically. But a nagging doubt kept twisting her logic and distracting her. It was a doubt shaped in the image of Ryo Urawa's coffin. It was the same scenario all over again - - someone close to her was dying and, for all of her skill and all of her vaunted 300 IQ intellect, she couldn't stop it.

Her car parked in the garage connected with her apartment building, Ami got out and leaned against the door. There had to be an answer. Why couldn't she see it? Just then her senshi communicator went off.

"Ami here," she responded, hoping that this wasn't a call to arms. She had too much on her plate right now.

"Luna here," came the voice of the little black cat. Luna's face appeared on the viewer. "I'm just sending out an alert to everyone. Artemis suspects there's a problem brewing that may need senshi intervention. This is just a standby alert so you can be prepared." Luna wavered for a moment. "I-I don't know if you've heard, but - - Michiru is stricken with an ailment."

"I know already," Ami replied. "She's hospitalized at the facility I work at."

"Oh, I see. Is there any news?"

"No," Ami whispered.

"I see. Do call me if there are any changes. I'll see to it that the others are informed."

"I will." Ami was about to close the channel, then stopped. "What is this problem Artemis is concerned about?"

"He isn't certain at the moment," Luna told her. "But it seems to have some connection to that meteor crash yesterday."

Luna severed the connection. Ami didn't notice. She was too busy realizing that Ishido General Hospital served the prefect where the meteor had landed and that Michiru had been in that area just yesterday. She bolted for the elevator and her apartment, her mind focused on the remains of the alien sitting in a plastic bag on her kitchen counter top.

Continued in Chapter 5


	5. Blood Strangers

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 5: "Blood Strangers"

By Bill K.

Fumbling with her keys in her haste, Ami finally managed to unlock her front door and barreled inside. With just a second to lock the door again, she set her purse down on the bureau near the door. Flying into the kitchen, Ami gestured out with her hand. Her henshin stick appeared in it.

"Mercury Planet Power Make up!" she shouted. The transformation took hold as she entered the kitchen.

The plastic bag Michiru had given her this morning still sat on the counter. Sailor Mercury eyed it warily. The contents seemed more liquified than they were this morning, indicating a more rapid process of post-mortem decay than was normal on Earth. Still, tissue samples remained for her to analyze, for which Mercury was grateful. She summoned her computer and engaged her visor.

"There's nothing unusual on the outside of the bag," Mercury noted silently, her penetrating gaze completely taken up by the alien remains. "It would seem safe to handle."

Keying commands into her computer while she watched the bag, Mercury edged closer. As she got closer, she noticed most of Sailor Neptune's glove had discolored into a copper-tinted stain. She glanced from the bag to the readings on her computer screen.

"Unusual composition," Mercury thought. "It seems to be a copper-based life form rather than a carbon-based one." Her visor continued to scan. "The decomposition rate is very unusual. It's as if the tissue reacts negatively to contact with oxygen or nitrogen."

The scan continued silently for several more minutes. When it was done, Mercury surveyed the results.

"Hmm," the senshi sighed. "Nothing I recognize as an overt pathogen. Although the physiology is so completely alien to anything seen on Earth that it might be something I normally wouldn't consider."

Sighing with resignation, Mercury set her computer on the kitchen table and sat down.

"It looks as if I'm going to have to do a detailed scan a lot sooner than I'd planned," she thought. "I hope Michiru and the others can hold out long enough for me to find what I'm looking for."

* * *

Absently Haruka took a spoonful of the broth sitting before her. She had no taste for the meal. She was only in the hospital cafeteria because she'd finally succumbed to her mounting hunger and temporarily abandoned her vigil outside Michiru's isolation room. In order to assuage the guilt she felt, Haruka had rationalized the move as necessary to keep her strength up. She had to be as strong as possible should the opportunity come to aid Michiru.

Activity was all around her, subdued to a respectful murmur. It went unnoticed. Haruka was consumed with the fear that the one thing she prized above all else - - Michiru's presence - - might be taken from her. It was the one thing Haruka never wanted to lose. Take her career, take her power, her reputation, her looks, a limb, anything - - just don't take that.

The spoon clattered to the table. Haruka's forehead leaned against her hands.

"Um," came a timid voice. Haruka looked up and found her sister standing there. "Is, um, it OK if I sit here? I-I'm not after an autograph or anything."

The attempt at humor fell flat. The situation grew even more awkward, but Haruka had no zest for being offended. She nodded and the teen slid into the chair across from her. A bottle of chocolate milk was nestled in her hands.

"Um," she began, fearing at any moment that she would say the wrong thing and bring Haruka's wrath down on her. "I, um, heard about your, um - - your girlfriend. How's she doing?"

A million answers flashed through Haruka's mind.

"Not well," Haruka replied, her response cut short by the emotion she felt constricting her throat.

"Oh," the teen squeaked. "I-I'm sorry." She went silent for a moment.

"How's Dad doing?" Haruka asked, more out of some strange sort of courtesy. She didn't really care.

"He's due to have a bi-pass tomorrow," the young teen said. "The doctor says he'll be really weak for a while, but he should pull through."

Again, silence enveloped the table.

"Look, do you have a name?" Haruka asked bluntly. "It might make it a little easier to talk - - if you're interested."

"Oh, yeah," she nodded. "It's Junko. Junko Tenoh. Guess you already knew the Tenoh part, huh?"

"'Pure Child'," Haruka murmured, distaste coloring her features.

"What do you mean?" Junko bristled.

"That's what the name means," Haruka said, staring into her broth. "That's so like Mom."

"How so?"

"You're probably what, fifteen or sixteen?"

"Sixteen."

"Which means she probably got pregnant a little bit after I left," Haruka mused. "Of course she'd name you 'Pure Child' - - since I was the impure one. And she'd want you to be everything I wasn't - - succeed with you after failing with me."

She glanced up at the girl across from her and found Junko burning.

"Sorry, kid," Haruka began.

"I'm not a kid!" Junko snapped.

"Yeah, I guess you're not. Sorry, Junko. You're just caught in the middle of a long standing feud between me and Mom and Dad."

At that point, the look on Junko's face shifted to something that told Haruka the girl understood more than Haruka expected her to.

"You like living with them?" Haruka asked.

"They're OK," Junko shrugged. "Mom's a little . . . well . . ."

"Controlling?" ventured Haruka. Junko seemed silently relieved that Haruka understood. "And Dad's a little strict and narrow-minded. I see they haven't changed much."

The conversation lagged.

"Why did you do it?" Junko asked point blank.

"Do what? Run away?" Haruka asked.

"Why'd you become a lesbian?"

Haruka smiled to herself. "You know, the way you ask that you almost sound like Mom. You probably can't help it. As far as I know, I've always been a lesbian. It's just that for a part of my life I was too ignorant and inexperienced to realize it."

"Well I like guys," Junko stated emphatically.

"OK. Nobody says you can't. Got a boyfriend now or are you still looking?"

Junko just stared at her sister.

"What?" Haruka asked finally.

"Mom said you'd try to seduce me."

Haruka scowled.

"Mom doesn't always know what she's talking about," Haruka replied.

"Yeah, no kidding," Junko scowled, averting her eyes.

"Junko, you barely know me, even though we're related, so if you want to tell me to go to Hell, that's fine," Haruka ventured cautiously. "You seem like a good kid, so I'm going to give you this piece of advice: Be who you are, not who they want you to be. It'll take courage sometimes, but you're the one who has to live with you for the rest of your life, not them."

"Did you even try to get along with them?" Junko replied.

"Yeah, I tried - - a lot harder than they did." The woman glanced at her watch, looking for a way out of a suddenly uncomfortable situation. "Look, I got to go, huh?" Haruka said, getting up from the table. "I got to get back to Michiru."

"Yeah, I understand," Junko nodded, getting up as well. "I hope she gets better."

"Thanks," Haruka said. She began to leave, but hesitated. "Um, look - - when this is over - - maybe we can get together - - and talk some more - - if you want." Haruka gave her a timid smile. "I promise I won't seduce you."

"Yeah," Junko said, grinning in spite of her awkwardness. "OK. That'd be good."

Haruka nodded and exited. Junko stared after her, not sure of how she should feel.

* * *

Usagi, Rei, Makoto and Minako were at Hikawa Shrine, discussing the situation as Luna had related it to them. Unfortunately for them, information was scarce and no course of action readily suggested itself.

"I wish Ami were here," Usagi murmured, on the verge of panic. Rei glanced at her with sympathy, for the woman's anxiety was bombarding the priest like the waves of a stormy sea.

"Yeah, where is Ames anyway?" Makoto asked.

"She's at her apartment, analyzing what's left of that alien the outers encountered," Rei related. "She figured she could do more good there than here."

"I agree," Minako mumbled, "mostly because we ain't doing nothing."

"Well we have to do SOMETHING!" squealed Usagi. "Michiru could die!" The woman brushed back her blonde hair. "Maybe I could . . ."

"Uh uh," Makoto said, grasping her hand from across the table.

"But," Usagi began.

"No healing, Hon'," Makoto reiterated. "It's too dangerous to you." Usagi fell back, wanting to argue, but not knowing what argument to use. Just then, the group's communicators sounded in unison. Minako was the first to answer.

"This is Ami," Minako heard as she saw Ami's face on the viewer. "Is Usagi there?"

"I'm here, Ami! Have you found something? Please say yes!" Usagi gasped.

"I've run a full analysis of the remains and catalogued the extra-terrestrial's physiology in my computer's database," Ami informed them. "However, I don't recognize anything that might be considered a pathogen. I'm going to need a blood sample from Michiru or one of the other patients to run a comparison analysis."

"Well, you're a doctor at the hospital Michiru's at," Makoto proposed. "Can't you just ask for one?"

"Makoto, I'm just a first year resident. The Isolation Ward isn't even my assigned area," Ami explained. "They're not going to give me a patient's blood sample without asking a great many questions that would probably compromise our secret."

"So what? Ami, Michiru could die!" Usagi wailed.

"I'm aware of that, Usagi," Ami bristled. "But I know someone who'll have no trouble obtaining the blood sample I need."

"Who?"

"You."

"ME?" Usagi gaped.

"Meet me at the hospital as soon as you can," Ami informed her, then added before she severed the communication link, "and be sure to bring the Disguise Pen."

Fifteen minutes later, Usagi and the others were huddled around Ami in a small conference room off of the Isolation Ward.

"Use the Disguise Pen to transform yourself into an agent of the Ministry of Health," Ami explained. "Then, all you have to do is go to the nurse's station and request a blood sample for analysis."

"But what if they ask me something medical?" Usagi asked, trembling. "I can't even spell 'bandage'!"

"Don't worry about it," Minako told her confidently. "The disguise spell automatically feeds you everything you need to know to pull the disguise off. It was like that for me when I used one as Sailor V."

Usagi eyed her skeptically.

"Remember when you helped me out against Katarina when Kunzite changed her into a youma?" Minako persisted. "You don't know how to drive a motor launch, do you?"

Usagi shook her head.

"But after you transformed into a sailor, you could," Minako told her. Usagi's expression brightened some.

"Usagi, you have to do it," Ami told her. "Michiru's life may depend upon it, as well as the lives of the victims at Ishido General. I need that sample."

Resolution grew in the young blonde woman. "You're right, Ami. I won't let them die." Taking out the Disguise Pen, Usagi held it above her head. "Moon Power! Make me into a-a beautiful Ministry of Health Agent!"

The jewel atop the pen flared with a full spectrum of light, enveloping Usagi. When it dissipated, a striking, yet very professional and business-like woman stood before them. The only hint any of the others had that it was Usagi were her pool-like blue eyes.

"A 'beautiful' Ministry of Health Agent?" Rei questioned cynically.

"Well what did you want me to say, an ugly one?" Usagi snarled back.

The duty nurse looked up to the sound of the click of high heels on linoleum. A very beautiful woman with a very professional and very official air about her was approaching the desk. Not recognizing her as a member of the hospital administration, the nurse leaned forward to give the woman her full attention.

"Hello," the young woman said, "I'm Mrs. Chi - - um, Tsukino - - with the Ministry of Health." She flashed an identity card from a wallet in her blue suit jacket. "We've been informed that there might be a, um, potential outbreak of an unidentified viral agent here. I need to get a blood sample of the infected patient. We're going to be running tests at the Ministry labs, in addition to the fine work you people are doing here."

"Another sample?" the nurse asked.

"W-What do you mean?" Usagi asked.

"We gave you people a sample earlier this afternoon."

The blood ran out of Usagi's face.

"Um," she stammered, "it's - - for another doctor! Yes, we, um, called in another doctor who is, um, consulting - - on the case! She's very good! Really brilliant! Once she gets this sample she'll have this whole thing solved in no time!" And Usagi waited patiently for the sample.

"Can I see that ID again?" the nurse asked.

"OK," Usagi squeaked. The nurse looked the ID over more closely.

"All right. I'll contact the attending nurse so she can draw another sample. It'll be a few minutes."

"Can't she do it now?"

"She has to get into her anti-contamination suit first," the nurse replied impatiently.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," Usagi grimaced.

Just then Haruka passed by. The woman took up her vigil at the window looking in on the isolation room. Michiru seemed to be sleeping peacefully. But she looked so fragile. Haruka pressed her hand up against the glass helplessly.

"Don't lose hope, Haruka," Usagi said, coming up next to her. "She'll make it."

Haruka turned and stared at the woman next to her.

"Do I know you?" Haruka asked gruffly. And Usagi remembered she was in disguise.

"Um, no!" the professional-looking woman gasped. "Oh, but I know you! You're Haruka Tenoh, the race car driver. You're so famous! And I really think you're a great driver! You're going to win the, um, championship thingy, I just know it!"

Haruka just stared at her like she was speaking Martian. Realizing she should go, Usagi began to back away. But just then Haruka's hand shot out.

"Dumpling?" Haruka asked incredulously.

"Not so loud," Usagi hissed. "How did you know it was me?"

"I know those eyes," Haruka told her. "What are you doing here looking like that?"

"It was the only way we could get a blood sample for Ami," explained Usagi. "If she can get a blood sample, she thinks she can find out what's making Michiru sick."

And Usagi saw a glimmer of hope dawn in Haruka's expression.

"Thank you, Dumpling," Haruka whispered hoarsely. She seemed on the verge of tears. "And tell Ami thanks, too."

Usagi beamed. "You don't have to thank us. You and Michiru are our friends." Then her eyes twinkled. "And I meant what I said about you winning the championship thingy." Haruka let out a snort of laughter in spite of herself.

"Ma'am," the duty nurse called out. "We've got your sample."

"GREAT!" Usagi cried. She flew across the room, in spite of wearing three inch high heels and careened to a halt at the desk. Scribbling a signature on the release form, Usagi snatched up the bag with the sample vial inside it. "Thank you! We're going to have a cure for you! I just know it!"

And Usagi raced out the door, nearly bowling over an orderly bringing linen into the ward. The nurse craned her neck to follow Usagi all the way to the elevators. Then she sat back in her chair.

"I wonder how long SHE'S been with the Ministry of Health?" the nurse wondered aloud.

* * *

Nervously Ayoshi Hotohori sat in the hospital waiting room. Her eyes looked up at the clock on the wall. It had been two hours and ten minutes since the doctors had shooed her out of the Isolation Ward. Kentaro had another coughing attack - - a bad one. As bad as she'd seen. She didn't want to leave, but the medical staff insisted. Instead, they left her alone in the waiting room with her fears. Why was there no news? What was happening to her precious Kentaro? Why . . .?

A hand touched her shoulder. Ayoshi looked up and found Kentaro's doctor standing there. All conscious thought thudded to a stop.

"Mrs. Hotohori," the doctor began. She knew by his tone what he was going to say, but she began to silently pray that she was misreading him. "I'm sorry. Your son is gone."

And her tears overflowed.

Continued in Chapter 6


	6. Behind The Mask

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 6: "Behind The Mask"

By Bill K.

Rei, Makoto and Minako waited down the hall from the Isolation Ward and nervously eyed each other and their surroundings. They weren't allowed any further because of health restrictions. Usagi had only gotten through with her Ministry of Health ID that the Disguise Pen had magically conjured up and Ami had returned to her apartment to continue working on her anaylsis. The minutes ticked by as they waited and each woman grew more and more nervous. Though they didn't know exactly how much was riding on this, they had an inkling. It started with Michiru's life.

"You think something went wrong?" Makoto asked finally.

"Hope not," Minako mumbled, itching to act and restraining herself.

"Maybe they saw through the disguise?" Makoto ventured.

"Impossible. The Disguise Pen is foolproof. It turns you into whatever you ask it to."

"Yeah, but Usagi's the one using it," Rei murmured. "That's the ultimate test for 'foolproof'."

"What if they check her credentials? Does the Disguise Pen cover that?" Makoto asked.

She and Rei looked at Minako when the blonde didn't answer right away.

"It never came up," Minako shrugged.

"Maybe one of us should go in after her," Rei proposed. "Do you still have yours?"

Minako shook her head. "When I went from Sailor V to Sailor Venus, all my previous equipment and attacks disappeared."

"That's a bummer," Makoto commented.

"Tell me about it. But Artemis told me that I only had them to further my image as 'Sailor Decoy' and once Sailor Moon emerged there wasn't any need for it any longer." Minako smiled ruefully. "That's the problem with being the understudy. It's hard going back after you've tasted stardom."

"Well maybe we can bluff our way in," Rei continued. "Maybe being a priest counts for something and they'll cut me some slack."

Just then the trio heard the rapid clack of high heels on linoleum. Turning a corner, a very professional blonde woman ran very unprofessionally down the corridor. She cradled a vial in her hands. Though none of them recognized the woman at first, Usagi's characteristic awkward gait was a dead giveaway. The woman skidded to a halt in front of the three women just as her image faded back to that of Usagi.

"I GOT IT!" she squealed, holding the vial up triumphantly. Everyone's face lit up.

"Great work, Usagi!" Makoto exclaimed. "Let's get this back to Ami so she can do her thing."

"Don't worry! I'll get us there in nothing flat!" Minako added.

She started to hurry off, but stopped when she realized no one was following her. The woman turned and found her friends standing in place with less than excited expressions.

"What?" Minako asked.

"You're going to drive?" Rei asked.

"I drove us here."

"And we barely survived," Rei countered, "AND you weren't in a hurry then."

Minako folded her arms over her chest and cocked an eyebrow. "And what do you suggest? None of you have licenses."

"Neither do you," Makoto replied.

"THAT WAS A CLERICAL ERROR!" fumed Minako.

"Minako, we've told you and told you that your points total doesn't reset at the start of a new year," Rei said, massaging the bulging vein on her temple.

"Well I'M the only one who's had lessons," Minako replied through clenched teeth.

"She's got us there," Makoto grumbled.

A beat passed. Then Usagi brought out the Disguise Pen.

"Moon Power! Make me into a beautiful Professional Stunt Driver!" she called out.

The pen dutifully acted, showering Usagi with a full spectrum of light and obliterating her form. When the light dissipated, Usagi had close cropped blonde hair, much like Haruka's, and a fire retardant driver's jump suit. Minako's eyes narrowed.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she said sourly and tossed Usagi the keys to the car. Together the four women raced for the parking garage.

"And why does it always have to be a 'beautiful' whatever it is?" demanded Rei.

Usagi responded with a very loud raspberry.

At her apartment, Ami was engrossed with the very arduous procedure of identifying and cataloging every fact of the alien's remains down to the molecular level. Even with her computer, the task was not a quick one. Normally that wouldn't matter to her, because her curiosity and wonder wouldn't allow her to become disinterested or impatient. But she knew she was on a clock and further that she didn't know when her time would run out. That sort of thing created impatience.

Still, it was fascinating.

The buzzer to her door sounded, wrenching Ami away from her studies. Glancing at the clock and emitting a small gasp of surprise that it was nearly eight in the evening, Ami went to answer the door.

"HERE IT IS, AMI!" Usagi said, thrusting a vial of blood into the startled woman's face. Recovering quickly, Ami took possession of it.

"Thank you, Usagi," Ami murmured, her concentration on the vial. "I'll begin analysis on this right away." She crossed back to her computer. "Did you have any trouble obtaining it?"

"Not really," Usagi grimaced. That drew a curious look from the others. "I just hope you're not going to need another one - - because I'm not sure they'll believe me a second time."

"This should be enough," Ami nodded and slipped into a near perfect concentration.

Peering through her glasses as she rapidly tapped commands into her computer, Ami examined the display with a critical eye. After several moments, though, the woman realized something was missing, namely the sound of the door closing. She looked up.

"Oh," she gasped in surprise. "You're all still here."

"Shouldn't we be?" Makoto asked.

"Well, this analysis is going to take a while. I just assumed you'd all want to get back to your lives."

"With Michiru's life in danger?" Usagi goggled.

Ami smiled to herself. "Forgive my thoughtlessness. You can stay if you wish. It could be a while, though."

Her four friends and comrades smiled back.

"It's OK. San-San and Akiko know I'm on a case," Makoto said. "Besides, you look like you haven't had dinner yet. How about I whip up something?"

"Great! I love your cooking!" squealed Usagi. "Mamo-chan said he understood and I was to take as long as I need."

"And since I'm my own boss, I can come and go when I please," Rei smirked. "And if you think I'm going to miss either this OR one of Makoto's meals . . ."

"Great! It's settled," Minako exclaimed, hopping onto the sofa in the living room. "Good thing the show's on hiatus for another month. TV won't bother you, will it?" She picked up the remote and turned on the television. "What? A big shot doctor like you doesn't have cable?"

Ami smothered a laugh as Usagi pulled up a cushion next to Minako, then went back to work. But as she worked, Ami realized she suddenly had a warm feeling in her heart. For a moment she puzzled as to why. Then she glanced at her friends filling her otherwise empty apartment.

Maybe she did know the reason why after all.

* * *

Morning found Haruka stretched out on a sofa in the waiting room. When she suddenly regained consciousness, it took her a few moments to recall where she was. Attempting to get up, she felt a grab in her back and then ruefully realized that these sofas weren't made to sleep on, particularly by someone of her height.

"If I look like I feel, I'll probably give someone a heart attack," the woman murmured.

But all that was inconsequential to Haruka. She'd only left her vigil outside of her mate's room when the second shift required her to leave. She couldn't bring herself to leave the hospital. Stiffly, Haruka ventured out of the waiting room and down to the cafeteria. Luckily for her, breakfast was just being served. Quickly wolfing down some rice and juice, the woman headed down to the Isolation Ward. Venturing in, Haruka was spotted by the duty nurse as she came up to the desk.

"Goodness, did you sleep here all night?" asked the nurse.

"Does it show?" Haruka shrugged. "How's Michiru doing?"

There was no need to glance at the list of patients. At that moment, Michiru was the only patient in isolation.

"There's been no change in her condition since yesterday," the nurse informed her.

"Have they found out what's causing it yet?"

"You'd have to ask Dr. Nagashi about that. I don't know," the nurse said.

"Can I talk to Dr. Nagashi?" Haruka asked, some of her desperation seeping into her voice.

"Dr. Nagashi will be in at nine."

Haruka's frustration was clear as day on her face. But, shoulders slumped, she turned and headed for her spot at the window to Michiru's room to resume her vigil.

Unmindful of how much time passed, Haruka watched her love sleep. Though she hadn't been hooked up to a ventilator just yet, there was an oxygen tube affixed to her nose that hadn't been there the night before. Haruka bit her lip, feeling her stomach flip-flop and every nerve in her body tingle. Why did this have to happen, she wondered. Unexpectedly a hand closed on her shoulder. Haruka turned and found Setsuna beside her.

"Forgive me if I startled you," Setsuna said softly.

Haruka nodded.

"How does she fare?" her friend gently prodded.

"Hanging in there," Haruka replied. "But I think we're going to need some good news soon."

Setsuna bowed her head. "Forgive me for not visiting sooner."

"You probably had stuff to do," Haruka shrugged to mask her pain. "The inners were around here yesterday. You should have seen Dumpling. You wouldn't have recognized her."

Setsuna was staring at Haruka in an odd manner and Haruka couldn't understand why.

"You do not feel it?" Setsuna asked.

Haruka gave her a curious look.

"There is a disturbance in the galaxy," Setsuna told her.

Haruka's eyes widened. Putting aside her grief, she searched her mind and immediately felt the sensation.

"I'm sorry. This has got me so messed up I can't even think straight," Haruka said, shaking her head. Setsuna touched her hand.

"Given the circumstances, it is quite understandable," Setsuna offered. "I have soldiered on in your stead, though I would much rather be here. As yet, I have managed to garner nothing beyond the impression."

Haruka nodded.

"Haruka?" Michiru's voice came from the communications speaker in the window. It allowed loved ones to communicate with the patient, who had a speaker in the bed control.

"Hey, gorgeous," Haruka said, forcing herself to smile because she heard the quaver in her voice. "How you feeling?"

"Like I've been in bed for ten years," Michiru replied. Haruka and Setsuna both heard the rasp in her voice and the edge to her breathing. "It's nice to see you, Setsuna. Oh, I must look a fright. And speaking of which, did you sleep here all night, Haruka?"

"Couldn't get a cab," Haruka shrugged indifferently.

"Haruka, I told you last night to go home and get some slee-ufff! Cough, cough!"

Haruka pressed up against the window, helplessly watching Michiru's coughing fit. She was about to call the nurse when Michiru's spell ended. The woman, green hair strands dangling in her face, settled back and took several moments to catch her breath. When her equilibrium was restored, Michiru glanced back at the window.

"I'm sorry for scaring you both," Michiru whispered hoarsely. "I guess I got a little too excited."

"Do you want me to get the doctor?" Haruka asked rapidly. Michiru shook her head.

"There's nothing they can do for me that they haven't already done," she said. "I just have to hold on until they can find out what's wrong with me."

She lay there so bravely. Haruka never felt so helpless in all her life.

"C-Can I get you anything?" Haruka asked, trying and failing not to sound like a scared five year old.

"The only thing I need, I can't have," Michiru replied and in that instance they saw the brave front crack and got a glimpse of the fear beneath. "I just want to hold you again."

Setsuna glanced at Haruka. She could see her friend was on the precipice of breaking down. But before she could say or do anything, Haruka grabbed her emotions and wrestled them into submission.

"Soon, Michiru," Haruka said, her hand on the glass. "Soon."

Suddenly the poignant moment was disrupted. Haruka noted a clamor at the nurse's station. When she turned to look, she saw Setsuna was already staring. Looking past her, she saw two familiar faces.

"My message must have finally got to them," Haruka mused to Setsuna as she walked over. At the nurse's station was Michiru's parents, Kunihiko and Constance Kaioh. Kunihiko, reserved as always, was trying to gain control of the situation while Constance frantically demanded information from the nurse in a mixture of Japanese and English that made neither comprehendible.

"Kaioh!" Constance reiterated. "Don't you understand? Where is she?" The pair looked like they'd interrupted a trip. Kunihiko was immaculate in a sport jacket and slacks. Constance, in blue capri pants, flowered pink blouse and rhinestone sunglasses, was just loud.

"Constance," Haruka interjected. Constance brushed the blonde hair out of her eyes and took a moment to recognize the lanky woman. Then she dove into Haruka's arms, tears flowing.

"OH, HARUKA!" Constance sobbed. "We got here as soon as we could! What is it? What's wrong with her? They said she may be dying?"

"Easy, Constance," Haruka struggled to say. "It looks bad - - but she's not gone yet. We're still fighting."

"Is it," Constance stammered, "one of those homosexual things?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Haruka saw Setsuna react with horror at what Michiru's mother said. Haruka merely smiled sadly and brushed some hair from the older woman's forehead. She knew Constance spoke only from ignorance of life rather than malice.

"No, it's not one of those homosexual things," Haruka gently told her.

By now they noticed Kunihiko peering into the window of Michiru's room. They walked over to join him. Constance gasped audibly at the sight of her daughter.

"Blossom?" Kunihiko whispered, his air of control and authority that had made him a captain of industry crumbling before their eyes. Haruka could relate.

"Hi, Dad," Michiru smiled wanly. "Mom. It's good to see you both. I'm sorry for ruining your trip."

"Never mind that!" Constance cried. "Michi-chan, what happened?"

"I got careless and picked up something I didn't know was dangerous," Michiru offered meekly. "I'm sorry."

"Where is her doctor?" Kunihiko demanded suddenly, turning and stalking away from the scene. "I must speak with him immediately!" They all watched him storm away.

"Thanks for stopping, Dad," Michiru said sadly.

"Don't think ill of him," Constance offered between sniffles. "Your father still thinks anything can be solved by just demanding people work harder. He's trying to change." Constance stopped for a moment to gather herself. "So," she began, trying to be brave and failing miserably, "now I get to nurse you back to health."

And then she collapsed in tears into Haruka's arms.

* * *

Rei was the first to wake up. When Usagi had refused to leave the night before, she and the others had fallen in line and stayed the night at Ami's place. The priest's last memory was of Minako and Makoto watching a romantic period drama on television, with Usagi curled up between them, asleep.

She expected the TV to still be on, but the set was off. Usagi was still sleeping - - and drooling all over Ami's upholstery - - and Makoto and Minako had joined her sometime after Rei went. Prying herself up out of the chair - - a difficult task, because Ami had purchased very comfortable chairs - - Rei headed into the other room to check on Ami.

Ami was sitting in the chair before her computer, just as she had been for all of last night. However, she wasn't working. Her head was slumped forward, with her chin pressing into her chest. A warm smile crossed the priest's lips. She padded over and gently rubbed Ami's upper arms. After a few seconds, the doctor woke up.

"Oh dear," Ami mumbled groggily. "I must have dozed off."

"You're entitled," Rei smiled. "Do you want me to make you some breakfast? I'm no Makoto, but I can do a whole lot better than Usagi or Minako could."

"Yes, that would be nice," Ami nodded. "Oh, I'd better call the hospital and tell them I can't come in today."

She reached for her phone as Rei headed for the kitchen. By the time she was done, Rei had returned with breakfast for two.

"Do you have anything in this apartment that isn't healthy?" Rei asked.

"A balanced, nutritional diet can prevent many problems later in life," Ami told her, peering over her glasses. "You did a very good job, Rei. It looks delicious."

"Flatterer," Rei grinned. Then she grew serious. "So how is Michiru doing?"

Ami gave her a surprised look, but Rei didn't back down.

"One of these days I've got to find a method to accurately test your PKE levels," Ami shook her head. "She hasn't gotten any worse."

"Any progress on what caused it?"

"Actually, yes," and Ami pushed her computer around so Rei could view it. After a few keystrokes, an enhanced picture of a microscopic organism came into view. "This is a bacterium I found in Michiru's blood sample. It corresponds with similar bacterium I found in the remains of the alien. It's a strain of bacterium that doesn't correspond with anything known on Earth."

"Then you can cure her?" Rei asked, her excitement growing.

"Not yet," Ami replied, deflating Rei to her mood. "Identifying the cause is only the first step. Now something has to be found to either eradicate or at least neutralize the bacterium without causing permanent injury to the patient. So far I've exposed the sample to an anti-  
bacterial solution I just happen to have, without effect."

"Maybe the hospital has something," Rei suggested.

"Perhaps it does. If it comes to it, I'll go to the hospital as Sailor Mercury and show them my findings." Ami paused gravely. "I'm just not certain any known anti-bacterial will work. This is a completely alien form of bacterium. I doubt it will respond to them. I'm trying to calculate something that will work against it, but I'm working in uncharted territory. And there may not be the necessary elements on Earth to concoct a proper antidote."

"Then," Rei swallowed, "this could spread and there'd be no way to stop it?"

"I doubt it will spread," Ami said. "The bacterium isn't airborne. Most bacteria aren't. Michiru and the others had to have come into contact with something from the alien itself, some fluid or secretion perhaps, and then touched their mouths or noses without realizing." Ami's eyes suddenly went wide. "Good heavens! If there are still traces of those secretions near the impact site . . .!"

"I'll go wake the others," Rei nodded.

As Rei got up from the table, Ami's attention was caught by a flashing light on her computer. Maximizing the window, the young doctor's jaw dropped.

"What is it?" Minako asked. Ami looked up and found all four of her guests awake and standing in the doorway.

"My computer has just picked up," Ami whispered in awe, "a communication from space."

Continued in Chapter 7


	7. Intimate Stranger

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 7: "Intimate Stranger"

By Bill K.

"A communication from space?" Usagi gasped, wide-eyed. Though the others remained silent, they were no less wide-eyed. Immediately the four women crowded around Ami, peering over her shoulder at her senshi computer screen.

On the screen was a window with vertical bars rapidly moving up and down, while above the amplitude wave of the communication was charted.

"What are they saying?" Makoto asked.

"I have no idea," Ami told them. "This communication pattern doesn't correspond with anything my computer has on file. Given time, I might be able to decrypt enough of it to translate it, if I can get enough of a sample. But it would take a great deal of time."

"Is the signal directed toward Earth?" Rei inquired. Ami nodded, her concentration full on the screen.

"Suppose it's the same race that alien the outers blasted is from?" Minako suggested. "Maybe they're calling, wondering why he hasn't checked in."

The five all glanced uneasily at each other.

"You don't think they'll be mad, do you?" Usagi wondered.

"Wouldn't you?" Rei answered.

"And I suppose it depends on why the first one was here to begin with," Minako added. "If he had a hostile mission, they're probably going to assume hostile intent on our part."

"Regardless, our immediate concern must be eradicating the residual bacteria in the meteor crash zone," Ami interjected. As she spoke, a map was printing from her computer. "I got a general idea of the area involved from Pluto. It's highlighted in red." Ami handed the map to Minako. "Above all, and this is imperative, DO NOT touch anything in the area unless you're absolutely certain it isn't contaminated. Otherwise, you risk contamination yourselves."

Usagi gulped audibly, while the others seemed duly impressed.

"So if we find something contaminated, what do we do?" Minako ventured.

"Unless I can find some anti-bacterial solution that will work on this strain," Ami answered, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "the only certain means of eradication is incineration."

Everybody glanced at Rei.

"And that'll get it?" Rei asked.

"It should," Ami whispered.

"Should?" Minako repeated, eyebrow raised.

Ami sighed. "I've only seen the effects of the bacterium on humans," she explained. "I don't know how quickly it induces mortality in animals, birds or insects. If an indigenous species becomes contaminated and then spreads the contamination before it dies - - or worse, isn't mortally affected by the bacterium and only acts as a 'carrier' - - the entire prefect could be contaminated by this point."

Ami felt the chill run through the room.

"Since there isn't news of new infections in the population of that prefect, I'm assuming that isn't the case." She looked straight at her four friends. "The sooner you three assess the situation and deal with it, the better it will be for everyone."

"Three?" Makoto asked. She glanced around. Rei and Minako had picked up on it, while Usagi was, as usual, clueless.

"As your doctor," Ami said directly to Makoto, "I'm advising you not to go on this mission. It's too much of a risk, given that you're three months pregnant."

At first, Makoto wanted to protest. Then the gravity of her responsibilities to the life gestating inside of her weighed in and crushed any resistance she had.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Makoto nodded. "Sorry, guys. I hope you're not going to need me."

"It's OK, Mako-chan," Usagi smiled. "We'll handle it."

Rei and Minako nodded in agreement. Without a word, the trio headed for the door while Ami turned back to her bacterium sample and her calculations.

* * *

Time seemed to lose all meaning to Haruka Tenoh. One moment Setsuna was there. The next she was gone, off to investigate the premonition she'd had that there was again alien traces in their galaxy - - the premonition Haruka felt and ignored. One moment Michiru was awake and seemingly nearly normal, the next she was asleep and looking as fragile as glass. One moment it was nine, the next it was eleven-thirty and her stomach was growling at her. When the collective frustration over her helplessness got to be too much for her, Haruka bowed her head against the glass window overlooking Michiru's bed.

"How's she doing?" a voice asked. Haruka raised her head with a start and looked, finding her younger sister Junko standing there. How long she'd been standing there was lost to the moment.

"Hi," Haruka mumbled, embarrassed at being caught being weak. "She's holding on."

"I heard about what happened," Junko offered. Haruka looked at her and it was like looking in a mirror and seeing her past reflected back.

"Heard where?"

"It's all over the news," Junko told her.

Haruka was about to respond, but her stomach beat her to it. Junko was startled at first, but smiled at the humor of the situation.

"You want to get something to eat?" the girl asked. Haruka glanced at Michiru. "She'll be OK. The hospital will take care of her. You're not abandoning her."

"What makes you think that's what I'm thinking?" Haruka asked. Junko shrugged.

"It's what I'd be thinking. If I hadn't heard about what happened, I'd be upstairs with Dad." Her gaze dropped momentarily. "Hell, the only reason I'm here is because they won't let me into the recovery room. Dad had his bi-pass this morning. The doctor says it looks good." Then her shoulders squared and once more Haruka got a sense of deja vu. "So stop moping over her and let's go eat."

Haruka nodded. "Ok, let's go eat. I'll treat."

"I can handle it," Junko huffed.

"Save it for bubble gum," Haruka grinned. "I was fifth in the points standings this year. I've got more than enough to cover it." Haruka smiled wickedly. "Besides, I always pay when I take a girl out on a date."

Junko stared after her, wide-eyed.

They found a table in the corner of the cafeteria that was far enough away from everyone to make conversation possible. Haruka noticed Junko kept the table between them when she sat down with her tray and smiled to herself.

"I was just joking earlier," Haruka said. "I'm not into incest, in spite of what Mom probably thinks."

"I know!" Junko replied defensively, like so many teens were in the presence of elders. "I'm not completely stupid." Haruka wondered if she'd sounded like that at sixteen. "And Mom doesn't know everything."

"So what's 'all over the news'? I haven't been watching. Had other things on my mind."

"Well there's a bunch of people sick over in that prefect where the meteor crashed," Junko explained. "And then they said that the famous Michiru Kaioh was sick here in Tokyo with the same thing and nobody can figure out why. They say not to panic, that you can't catch it. But if that's right, how did Kaioh-San get it? Somebody's not telling us something."

"You're probably right," Haruka concurred with a wry look. "But I don't think anyone has to worry. If it were catching, I'd have it if anyone did. Wasn't anybody closer to Michiru than I was." The irony of that statement struck Haruka and she paused to get control of her emotions.

"You really love her, don't you?" Junko said. Haruka looked at her sharply. "I can tell just by the way you talk about her. And earlier, I-I saw you two hugging."

Haruka dropped her head. "Yeah, I really love her." She glanced up at Junko. "Still hard to figure?"

"Well," the teen began uneasily, "it's not what I'm used to, you know. I mean, I've heard stories. Girls in school talk. But it was always just talk. And Mom and Dad always said that a woman could only truly love a man. It's a little like suddenly finding out that you've got a sister. It took me a while to get used to that, too. But I can see that you love Kaioh-San, just like I can see that you're my sister."

"When did you find out I was your sister?"

"I saw you on the news one day. You were the first Japanese woman to race cars and the first woman period to win a race. When I heard your name, I looked at the TV. And I saw how much you looked like Dad. I asked them about you."

"What'd they say?"

Junko grimaced. "Do you really want to know?"

"Let me guess," Haruka began, sipping at her tea. "Mom denied any relation at first. When you pressed them, Dad got angry and said I was a disgrace living in sin and corruption and you weren't ever to have any contact with me. And Mom supported him one-hundred percent."

"Close enough," murmured Junko.

"Water under the bridge." Haruka frowned. "I stopped being hurt by that a long time ago. If they don't want me, I'll just stay in the part of the world that does." She brooded for a few moments, then glanced at Junko. "Maybe you shouldn't be here, though. I don't want to get you in trouble with them."

"I'll go where I want," Junko replied defiantly. The words had a familiar ring to Haruka.

"Sounds like you and they aren't getting along?" Haruka asked. "Tell me to mind my own business if you want."

Junko hunched her shoulders. "It's just that they try to run every second of my life. They're always after me, wanting to know what I'm doing, who I'm with, what I'm reading, what I'm thinking. I can't breathe around them!"

"Sorry to hear that."

"I'm sixteen years old! I can think for myself! You know, I went out on a date with a guy a few months ago," Junko continued to vent. "Mom practically tried to marry us! He wasn't that much fun!"

"I think I'm kind of partially responsible for that."

"I know," Junko said softly. "When I found out you were a lesbian, I kind of figured things out. It sort of explained why they try to control so much of my life. They're afraid I'll turn out like you."

Though she didn't show it, Haruka felt the sting of those words.

"It's not fair," Junko continued. "Now that I've met you, you're kind of OK - - for a grown up. You're not anything like the monster Mom and Dad said you were." She folded her arms over her chest. "And it's sure not fair to me."

"That's life, Junko. It's not always fair," Haruka told her softly. "We wouldn't all be stuck in this hospital if it was."

Junko nodded. They ate in silence for a few moments.

"So," Junko began hesitantly, "what's it like being a famous race car driver?"

"Well, the famous part isn't so hot," Haruka shrugged. "The press is always following me. And I've got a contract that says I have to make a certain amount of promotional appearances and commercial endorsements. It's a lot of encroachment on my island life."

"Island life?"

"Remind me to tell you about it some day," Haruka smiled.

"It doesn't sound very nice," Junko observed.

"Yeah, but it's the trade-off I have to make in order to race," Haruka said, a dreamy look coming into her eyes. "The only good part of the job is being behind the wheel of that car trying to go faster and out-think the other thirty-five drivers on the track. When I'm in the middle of a race, feeling that machine vibrate under me, gunning past a world that doesn't give a damn about me - - it's such a peaceful feeling." She glanced sheepishly at Junko. "That sounds pretty stupid, doesn't it?"

"Is it tough being a woman driver?" Junko asked.

Haruka shrugged. "If folks don't want to like you, they'll find a reason. Some folks don't think I should be a driver because I'm a woman. Others because I'm part Japanese - - or I'm openly lesbian - - or I'm too butch." She grinned maliciously at Junko. "Some of 'em don't like me because I'm better than they are. The ones who accept me are the only ones who matter anyway."

Junko smiled, clearly sympathizing with the attitude. Haruka noticed the empathy they seemed to have, despite only having just met. They ate in silence for a few moments.

"Why'd you leave?" Junko asked suddenly, bluntly.

"When?"

"When you were living with Mom and Dad," Junko replied. "Before I was born."

Haruka considered how much to say.

"Mom and Dad did something to me that I couldn't forgive," Haruka replied solemnly. "And I guess I'd already done something that they couldn't forgive. So there wasn't much point in staying."

"Weren't you scared?"

"I was too angry to be scared," Haruka mused. "And by the time I got smart enough to realize I should be scared, I was too far away to go back."

"Would you have gone back?" Junko asked, mystified.

"I didn't plan on it," Haruka answered. "But if I hadn't met Michiru, maybe I would have. When you're cold enough and hungry enough, you'll do just about anything." She didn't look at the girl.

Junko suddenly needed to examine what was left on her tray.

"Well, I'm going to get back to Michiru," Haruka said, standing up from the table. "Thanks for lunch."

"You paid," Junko replied. "Um, is it OK if I visit again?"

Haruka smiled. "You're sixteen. You'll go where you want."

Junko looked away to hide her embarrassed smile.

Arriving back at the Isolation Ward, Haruka found a strange man at Michiru's window. Her protective streak instantly rose up and she quickly closed the gap between them. As she neared him, Haruka could see he was talking with Michiru.

"Were you in the vicinity of the meteor strike, Kaioh-San?" the man asked pointedly. Michiru was awake, but before she could respond, Haruka seized him by his jacket sleeve and spun him around to face her.

"Who are you?" Haruka asked with as much menace as she could muster. It wasn't difficult when Michiru's well-being was threatened.

"Yamazaki," he began, clearly disdainful of Haruka's rude entrance. Not pleased with the response, Haruka shoved him belligerently.

"One of those nosy reporters?" Haruka spat. "Can't you even leave her alone when she's sick? Her life's not a damn open book to you people! How did you get in here?"

"Haruka!" Michiru called through the glass, over the intercom set-up.

For the first time Haruka noticed that a suction tube had been inserted up into Michiru's nose and possibly down into her lungs. What was being suctioned out through the tube was a mixture of clear, yellow and greenish fluids, but there were ominous streaks of red and brown as well. The image only served to make Haruka that much more protective. She glared combatively at the man.

"I'm with the Ministry of Health!" Yamazaki yelled.

The words froze Haruka.

"He's just investigating how this - - condition of mine got to Tokyo," Michiru reassured her with a rasping voice. "Haruka, it's all right."

The tension in Haruka's arms and shoulders relaxed slowly, almost reluctantly. Because of all the frustration and fear she had bottled up inside, Haruka wanted to get into a confrontation with someone, wanted a chance to make someone pay for what had happened to Michiru and thus to her. It hadn't been a very good few days. What kept her in check was her experience and maturity, as well as the inner fear that she might do something stupid and lose the love and respect of her precious Michiru, the love and respect that sustained her existence.

"Please forgive her, Yamazaki-San," Michiru appealed. "This hasn't been very easy on any of us. She obviously thought you were the press and, with our fame, the press is occasionally somewhat - - intrusive."

"Of course," Yamazaki replied stiffly, eyeing Haruka with suspicion. It didn't matter to Haruka. Nobody's feelings were as important as Michiru's and if Michiru forgave her, life was good.

"Back to your question," Michiru began. Haruka glanced at her and could see the gears working in her love's head. "Yes, I must confess that Haruka and I both were in the vicinity of the meteor strike the day of the strike. I was scouting rural scenes to see if I could find something that would make a striking image for a painting or photo. Haruka drove me."

Haruka again felt admiration for her. In spite of all that was happening to her, Michiru retained enough control over herself to have rehearsed a cover story for why she'd been in the area in question. Haruka knew if it had been up to her, she would have refused to answer and stone-walled any questions - - and probably raised more suspicions. For a moment, Michiru's eyes met hers, looking for reassurance that she was on the right course. Without moving, using only her eyes, Haruka acknowledged the query and transmitted her approval.

"How did you get past the police cordon?" Yamazaki asked.

Michiru coughed and Haruka's every nerve ending tingled with fear.

"Forgive me," Michiru croaked. "When I'm on the trail of an image, I tend to be somewhat single-minded. I can also be somewhat sneaky. Obviously I'm paying for it now."

"I see," Yamazaki said thoughtfully. He turned to Haruka. "So you were exposed, too. Have you been checked out?"

"Yeah," Haruka nodded. "They said I'm fine."

"Then it's not airborne, just like we thought. Kaioh-San, did you touch anything unusual in the area?"

"Unusual?" Michiru asked.

"Any sort of, well, powder or fluid. Something you don't normally find in a wooded area?"

"Aside from a meteor crater?" Michiru asked. Haruka could see she did that to give herself a moment to decide whether to confess she'd gone into the crater itself. "Let's see. Well, I do recall putting my hand to my mouth and finding some dust on it. I tried to spit it out, but some of the dust got into my mouth."

Yamazaki nodded. "That was probably the transmission point."

"Do you know what she has?" Haruka asked, hope blooming.

"Not yet," he told her. "We've only just now figured out how it's being communicated. It's bacterial, but a strain we've never encountered before. We haven't even isolated it yet." She could see Yamazaki knew more, but was reluctant to say it. Before Haruka could press him, Michiru spoke up.

"And the prognosis on a cure?" she asked. "I understand through the news reports that two of the eight people who lived near the crash site have already died."

Yamazaki hesitated for a moment. "I'm sorry, Kaioh-San. Unless we can isolate the bacterium causing this and find an effective anti-agent - - it doesn't look good"

* * *

Speeding down a country road was a dented 2003 candy-apple red Honda Civic that belonged to Minako Aino. Well, technically it belonged to her significant other, Toshihiro, but she used it. It wasn't that she couldn't afford a car, since her new series "Island Girl" had given her a steady income again. It was just the petty insistence of the government, her production company and their insurance agent that she have a driver's license that wasn't under suspension in order to own or drive a car. That forced her to keep it in Toshihiro's name.

It was that same petty insistence that forced her into the back seat of the car while "Speed Racer Usagi" drove, courtesy once again of the Disguise Pen. The woman stewed privately over how the world didn't appreciate her many talents.

"Can we change the station?" fussed Rei, in the front seat with Usagi and glaring at the radio. Usagi could see that Rei was fussing from nerves.

"I like hip-hop!" whined Usagi.

"Well I don't!" Rei shot back.

"I like hip-hop, too, and it's my car!" Minako grumbled from the back. "So keep your hands off that radio." Rei shot an angry glare into the back of the car.

"Maybe I can turn it to the news channel," suggested Usagi, trying to be peacemaker. "We might get an update on the situation we're headed for."

She glanced at Minako, then Rei. They didn't want to admit it, but Usagi's suggestion did make tactical sense. Relieved, Rei leaned over and moved the tuner down the band until she got the news station. Unfortunately, the financial news was on at that moment. Minako pulled up her senshi communicator and signaled Artemis.

"Got anything new, Fuzzy?" Minako asked.

"Ami sent me her files, but they've got me stumped," the cat replied. "Of course, medicine isn't exactly my thing."

"No, sleeping on radiators is your thing," quipped Minako. "How about the government?"

"They didn't find very much at the meteor site, according to the field report e-mailed to the Defense Ministry. They've punted the problem to the Ministry of Health because of bigger concerns. The public's really getting nervous, Minako. Ever since the press broke the story that Michiru contracted the condition, people are worried about an epidemic. And there's a lot of stories going around out there about an invasion from space."

"Artemis," Rei asked, bending around so she could see Minako's communicator, "did Ami forward that communication to you?"

"The one from outer space?" Artemis inquired. "Yeah. Fortunately, that IS one of my things. I don't have it completely decoded, but I've got enough of it to judge the tone. It looks like a status inquiry, just like Minako supposed."

"Wonder how soon it'll take them to investigate when they don't get an answer," Minako mused.

"Uh, guys," Usagi squeaked as she brought the car to a stop. "Problem."

Her passengers looked out the front window of the car. The road was blocked by a troop truck and uniformed Ministry of Defense personnel ringed the area.

Continued in Chapter 8


	8. Panic

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 8: "Panic"

By Bill K.

Pulling her Toyota mid-size out into traffic from the parking garage under her apartment building, Ami Mizuno headed for the hospital where she worked. Technically she was off work due to illness, which was the excuse she'd made when calling off that morning. If her car was spotted in the hospital garage and connected to her, questions would be asked. But it was a risk she felt she would have to take. Her work at home on finding an anti-agent to the strain of bacteria causing the respiratory illness had hit a wall. She'd done all she could with calculations and virtual scenarios. Her theories needed to be tested in a lab and the only lab she would have access to would be at the hospital.

"The government has issued a statement concerning the strange disease that has infected nine people so far in central Japan," a news reader stated over the radio in Ami's car. "Prime Minister Arashi called for calm from the public amid growing reports of increasing panic at hospitals, doctor's offices and pharmacies in the Tokyo area."

Of course, showing up at the hospital with a sample of decomposed alien in Sailor Neptune's glove would inspire a lot of questions as well. It would probably be better for her if Sailor Mercury showed up with such things rather than Dr. Ami Mizuno. But then, Sailor Mercury might not get access to a lab and materials. And Dr. Ami Mizuno didn't have the pull to get Sailor Mercury access on just her say-so.

What to do?

Turning the corner, Ami found a startling situation. Mobs of people pressed into the front of the hospital. There was a similar throng trying to shove their way in through the Emergency Room entrance. Recalling the news report, Ami surveyed the crowds and saw the desperation in many faces among the mob. Hospital security guards were trying to restrain the crowd, hoping to keep the hospital lobby and Emergency Rooms from being overrun. Passing the mob on her way to the garage, Ami heard the wail of sirens in the distance. If it was the police coming to handle the throngs of desperate people, that was bad enough. If it was an ambulance with a critical patient inside - - well, there was no way it was going to get through this. The young doctor reached a decision. Her identity wasn't as important as human life.

But as she pulled into the garage, inspiration struck the brilliant doctor, as it often did. Pulling her car into a space, Ami shut off the engine and pulled out her cell phone. Maybe Dr. Ami Mizuno didn't have enough pull to get Sailor Mercury access to a lab and material components, but there was a Dr. Mizuno at this hospital who did.

* * *

Minako peered out the front windshield over Rei's shoulder. Rei was too amazed to object.

"Are there any security forces left in the rest of Japan?" goggled Usagi.

The road leading to the meteor crash site was blocked by a troop truck. Uniformed security forces formed a human cordon of the area and it didn't look like they were going to let anyone in. Overhead a helicopter hovered over the area, adding to the aura of military occupation the area had.

"Looks like they're determined that nobody else gets infected," Rei commented.

"Unless it's the security forces who get infected," Minako added.

"Look at the trees beyond the roadblock," Rei pointed.

They all looked. A hundred meters from the roadblock, the woodland made a sudden, drastic change from lush and fertile green to a barren and decaying brown. Brittle, gnarled limbs stood where once there were leaves and life. To the left of that was a giant hole in the tree line. That was probably where the impact crater was. Minako was about to speak, but Usagi interrupted, frantically gesturing and whimpering. Her friends looked and found a security officer approaching. When he got to the car, Usagi rolled down the window.

"Ma'am, you and your friends are going to have to turn back," he told her with an authoritative tone. "This is a restricted area." The sun gleamed off of his white helmet.

"But we . . ." Usagi began. She stopped when she felt Minako's hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, that's fine, Sir," Minako said, smiling her warmest. "Just give us a little room to turn around."

The officer nodded and backed up several paces. Spurred on by Minako, Usagi turned the car around and headed back around the concealing turn in the road. Once they were beyond sight of the roadblock, Minako signaled her to stop.

"We're leaving?" Rei protested. "Did you see that patch of dead trees? That area is infected!"

"I know, but arguing with that security officer wasn't going to get us anywhere," Minako countered. "The more you argue with those types, the more rigid they become."

"Maybe I can use the Disguise Pen to make us look like security officers or something," Usagi said. Minako shook her head.

"The Disguise Pen only works on you," she told them. "And we need Rei in there to incinerate that contaminated area."

"Well, we've got to do something!" Usagi proclaimed.

"Maybe they'd let Sailor Moon and her senshi in," suggested Rei. "That might be more impressive than three women out on a country jaunt."

"Yeah," nodded Minako. "Plus Sailor Moon's got an advantage that other people don't have." Rei smiled knowingly.

"I do?" Usagi squeaked. Minako reached over and patted her on the shoulder.

"Just turn on the charm," she said. "I haven't met the person who can say 'no' to you."

"Hmph!" snorted Usagi. "Rei does it all the time." That drew a smirk from the priestess.

The security force platoon turned when astonished murmurs began to rise among them. Their attention focused on three of the now-legendary Sailor Senshi approaching from the bend in the road. Most had never seen them before, though everyone was familiar with their work. They only knew the senshi from newspaper or TV reports, magazines, manga, anime or other merchandise coined in their image. Each man seemed to focus on one of them, according to their tastes. They all kept silent until the trio of senshi reached the barricade, as awestruck as fans at a music concert or movie.

"Hello," Sailor Moon said to the officer at the head of the barricade. "I'm Sailor Moon and these are my friends. We've come to help, if you'll let us."

The officer stared down at her, for Sailor Moon was barely five feet tall. He'd always been under the impression that she was taller, that they all were taller. Oh, but they were just as beautiful and awe-inspiring as their photos - - even more so. The security officer couldn't recall ever seeing a blue as deep and as rich as the blue in Sailor Moon's large, reassuring eyes.

"Um," the officer began, momentarily forgetting what he was going to say. "I'm sorry, Ma'am. That's a contaminated area. It's restricted."

"We know," Sailor Moon smiled and it reminded him of how his mother used to smile at him when he'd been good. "That's what we're here to help with. We don't want the contamination to spread and hurt anyone else. We can destroy the contamination. Please let us help."

The officer felt himself wavering. His rational mind told him that exposing anyone beyond the Ministry of Health workers in their environmental suits was an unacceptable risk. His orders were to keep people away from the area until a flame-thrower unit could be brought in from the American military base in Tokyo. To do anything else went against both his training and his logic.

"Please?" Sailor Moon appealed, gently grasping his hand in hers and looking up at him with those soulful blue eyes. And suddenly the thought of saying 'no' to her was equivalent to having a puppy executed.

"I," he began, struggling with himself. Then he sighed in defeat. "I guess you know what you're doing. You have saved Tokyo so many times already. Go ahead." He stepped aside. "But please be careful."

"Oh, we will! Thank you!" Sailor Moon beamed. And the officer suddenly felt like he'd just saved the world.

"Honestly, does Mamoru ever stand a chance against you?" Mars needled as they walked to the wooded patch.

"Shut up, Rei," Sailor Moon murmured, her mouth pulled up into a pout. She could hear Venus giggling behind her.

Up close, the devastation was even worse. There was a path forty meters wide through the wooded patch running from the impact crater. It crossed the road and picked up again on the opposite side, running into a glen about eighty-five meters in. Every tree was dead, the bark withered and falling away while the wood was grey and shriveled. Leaves on the ground were dry and brittle, their coloring mottled with ugly black and grey splotches amid the brown. But the worst part, particularly to Sailor Moon, was the trail of animal corpses strewn amid the leaves. Rabbits, foxes, raccoons, birds of all shapes and colors lay dead, dried blood caked around their mouths and noses. Sailor Moon recoiled. Venus caught her and she buried her face against her senshi's shoulder.

"This is horrible," Mars whispered.

"It's even worse," Venus said. The others glanced at her and she pointed to a still healthy tree two meters from the devastation path. Some of the leaves on the tree had the same grey mottling. "Some of those animals have already spread the bacteria."

While the others looked on, Venus signaled over the security officer.

"When you set up your perimeter," Venus asked him, "did you notice those mottled leaves?"

"Yes, Ma'am," the officer replied. "The Ministry of Health scouted the area out, then set up our perimeter. We were under orders to shoot any bird or animal in the area on sight."

"That's terrible!" wailed Sailor Moon.

"They have to keep it from spreading," Venus whispered to her. Sailor Moon's lip quivered.

"I'd better get started," Mars said glumly.

"Wait," Venus told her. "We're going to have to take out this entire glen. We're going to need a fire break to keep the entire prefect from going up." Venus turned and walked up to the perimeter. Extending her arm, she aimed at the ground with her right index finger. "Crescent Beam!"

Golden energy fired from her finger and struck the ground, gouging out a trench. Walking along the perimeter as she fired, Sailor Venus dug out a meter deep trench in the ground to use as a fire break. It was a wide perimeter and that made it an arduous task. Thirty-five minutes later, escorted by several security personnel, Venus staggered back to where she started. Though she was still firing, the strain on the woman was clear. Fire trucks waited at the perimeter as a backup for her fire break, summoned by the security forces. No sooner had she finished the trench than Sailor Venus collapsed to her knees.

"Venus?" Sailor Moon gasped as an officer tried to support her.

"Remind me never to try that again," Venus panted, her face bathed in perspiration.

"Let me help you," Sailor Moon pleaded. She summoned the Moon Tier and held it over Venus. "Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!"

While Venus bathed in revitalizing silver energy, Mars solemnly walked down the road to the center of the area. Her hands were up to her face, her fingers pressed together in prayer. The senshi stopped right where the area of destruction crossed the road.

"Honored trees," she whispered meekly, "please forgive me for taking your lives. Kami of the forests, please forgive this act upon the creatures you watch over. We only do this to spare the lives of so many more. Were there any other way, we would not do this. Forgive us, I beg of you."

Mars silently spread her arms and looked up to the heavens.

"Get your men back," Venus suggested.

"MARS SNAKE FIRE!" the lovely senshi called out to the heavens.

Instantly she burst into flame. Gasps of alarm passed through the security force and the locals who had gathered to see the famed senshi. Mars burned brightly, her flame growing brighter and higher until the flames licked ten feet into the air. Then a giant serpent of flame rose up out of the fire until it towered fifty feet in the air. Dry brittle trees near Mars were already burning. Everyone looked on in amazement, while Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus watched with nervous silence.

The serpent reached its apex, then dived for the earth just in front of Mars, its flaming six foot fangs bared. The serpent's head impacted with the earth and the great serpent spread upon impact, fanning out across the area. In moments the entire glen was involved. Green plants withered and burned. Occasionally a bird or small animal could be seen darting wildly, hideously burning alive. A huge plume of black smoke rose up into the sky and blotted out the sun. Sailor Moon covered her mouth with her hand as she wept.

"What about Sailor Mars?" one of the security personnel asked. "Is she - - did she sacrifice herself?"

As if in answer, a figure emerged from the conflagration. As it neared them, everyone could see that it was Sailor Mars. Miraculously the flame didn't touch her, didn't singe her. Her hand was over her mouth and nose and several guessed it was because the fire was consuming all the oxygen in the area. But the senshi walked at an even, unhurried pace, unconcerned with thoughts of suffocation - - or preoccupied with other things.

Sailor Moon waited for her tensely as Mars hopped across the fire break. Her violet eyes met Sailor Moon's blue. And the senshi mask cracked. Tears dribbled down Mars' cheeks. Her features twisted in sorrow.

Sailor Moon gathered her in and let Mars cry on her. Venus rubbed her shoulders in sympathy. And a little piece of Japan burned on.

* * *

Haruka stared through the glass overlooking Michiru's hospital room. The woman didn't bother to conceal the agony on her face.

Michiru continued to sleep, while a tube and suction pulled mucus streaked with blood out of her lungs. She looked so weak and fragile as she lay motionless in her bed. Haruka looked at the tableau before her and got a sense of deja vu. Where had that come from? And then it hit her. She'd seen her father like this just two days ago. Haruka leaned her forehead against the glass.

"Tenoh-San?" one of the duty nurses inquired. She touched Haruka's shoulder. "Perhaps you'd like to go get something to eat? You must be so tired and hungry. You've been standing here since eight this morning."

"I'm all right," Haruka replied absently.

"Tenoh-San, there's nothing more that you can do for her that we're not already doing," the nurse persisted.

"Yeah," Haruka said and all at once her emotions seemed to well up in her throat, threatening to choke her. "There's nothing more I can do for her." With a herculean effort, Haruka swallowed back her emotions.

"What I mean is, you can't help her by wrecking your own health. What you're doing is very loyal, but ultimately very harmful. I don't think she'd want you to do that."

"My health doesn't matter," Haruka said, continuing to stare. "Only hers does."

"You know," the nurse began. Haruka glanced at her and found she was an older woman, about fifty, and still had a few hints of the comely woman she had been. "I see a lot of that behavior, mostly in elderly patients. Their spouses hover because they're so afraid of the prospect of life without their mate. And by the time their mate pulls through, their own health is so bad off that they merely change places with the newly recovered spouse. That's not a very nice thing to do to someone you love."

The nurse didn't flinch at Haruka's hard stare. She'd hit a nerve and she knew it. Sometimes you had to smack a mule to get its attention.

"Can I at least get you something out of the vending machine?" the nurse offered. Haruka felt an almost maternal concern from the woman. "It's not much, but at least it'll keep the growling of your stomach from waking Kaioh-San up."

Haruka's face softened. She turned back to Michiru with a look of stony silence. The nurse waited.

"Thank you," Haruka whispered. "I apologize if I'm making your job harder."

"That's all right," the nurse smiled. "Oh, by the way, my son is a big fan of yours."

As the nurse walked away, Haruka saw Michiru's eyes open. They looked to the window, searching for the familiarity and security of Haruka's face in the window. When she spotted Haruka, Michiru's mouth curled in a smile Weakly she raised a hand and waved. Haruka felt the lump forming in her throat again.

"Haruka."

It was her name, spoken by the last person Haruka expected. The lanky blonde turned and found her mother standing there. Haruka searched the woman's face for some clue as to her intent, but she was as cold and reserved as ever. It was like trying to read a stone. A sixth sense, one Haruka trusted implicitly, told her this was something she wasn't going to like.

"What do you want?" Haruka asked, solidly behind her mask of indifference.

"I don't want you to speak to Junko anymore."

Continued in Chapter 9


	9. No Person Is An Island

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 9: "No Person Is An Island"

By Bill K.

"I don't want you to speak to Junko anymore."

Haruka's jaw tightened. She turned away from the woman who had given birth to her, but who had willingly ceded her title of mother years ago.

"Right across the mouth," Haruka muttered. "You never did care about diplomacy."

"I don't want Junko corrupted by you," Himeko Tenoh said insistently. "She's a good girl with a bright future ahead of her. I've spent too much time trying to raise her right . . ." and she trailed off.

"You were going to say 'this time'," Haruka commented. "But that would mean you had another daughter."

"I never had another daughter," Himeko scowled. "I had a-a boy in a girl's body. Something who blamed me for her own lack of strength and character and did everything she could to humiliate me."

"Wait a minute!" a shrill voice interjected. Both women turned and found Constance Kaioh rapidly approaching. Constance had managed to put on conservative attire (for her) of a white blouse and billowing dark skirt. Her blonde hair was held back by a white scarf. She whipped off her rhinestone sunglasses as she approached. "Just who do you think you are, talking to her like that?"

"This is a private conversation," Himeko said with icy vehemence.

"What are you, one of those stupid bible-thumping gay-haters?" Constance demanded. "I didn't know they had people like you in Japan! You leave her alone!"

"Constance," Haruka interjected, though grateful for the support. "This is - - well, this is the person who USED to be my mother."

Constance looked first at Haruka and then at Himeko in shock.

"Used to - -?" Constance asked. "How - - how could you? How could you disown your own child? Are you nuts?"

"That is none of your concern," Himeko replied tightly.

"My daughter is in there, dying! I would give anything to save her! Anything! And you cast your own baby aside? I know I'm a long way from the perfect example of a mother, but you . . .!"

"Perhaps someone like you," Himeko said, disdainfully eyeing Constance's less-than-reserved manner, "can excuse someone like her. I do not."

Constance frowned, something rare for her. "You know," she fumed, "in Tiverton, we had a word for people like you."

Himeko's mouth thinned. Her eyes were steely. Dismissively, she turned away from Constance and back to Haruka.

"Stay away from Junko," she said in a clipped, overly controlled manner. "That is not a request. I'm still her mother and I will still determine who she associates with for two more years at least. I mean it. Stay away from her."

Himeko Tenoh turned and walked out of the ward, leaving Haruka with an urgent need to destroy something, anything, to vent the rage she felt. Constance touched her on the shoulder, trying to console her. It didn't help, though.

"Haruka," came the whispered croak of the only person in the universe who could still her rage. Haruka turned to the window and saw Michiru looking at her with droopy eyes, a weak smile, and a tube coming out of her nose. "Don't let her get to you. I still love you. I'll always love you."

Haruka put her hand against the window, desperate to touch she who was her very reason for existence. Constance looked on helplessly.

"But for how long?" Haruka asked, emotion welling in her eyes.

"Forever and ever," Michiru told her. "No matter where I am."

"I wish I could do something," Haruka moaned, her agony finally spilling down her cheeks. "I wish I knew how to make you well again."

"I know," Michiru smiled, drawing a fragile breath. "It's not your fault. I was careless and I'm paying the price."

Haruka's teeth ground in frustration. "If you go," she began haltingly, choked with emotion, "if you leave me - - I'll join you."

"Haruka," Michiru replied with all the sternness she could muster, "I don't want that. I haven't left yet, but if I go - - I want you to live for both of us. I want to be able to watch over you - - from wherever I'll be."

Haruka's head rested against the glass.

"Promise me," Michiru insisted and the rasp in her voice was growing from her exertion. "Promise me, Haruka."

"Why would you do that to me?" Haruka sobbed. "Why would you make me live without you?"

"Because the world still needs you," Michiru smiled almost maternally. "Because Usagi still needs you. And because I need you to finish some of the things - - I might not be able to."

More tears escaped Haruka's eyes, squeezed out by the pressure of eyelids clamped shut.

"I know I'm asking a lot," Michiru said. "Please say you'll do it."

Haruka rapped her forehead once against the window.

"I can never say 'no' to you," Haruka whispered. "Promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Promise me you'll get well," Haruka whispered, "so I don't have to keep my promise."

Tears began to well in Michiru's eyes. "I-I'll do my best."

* * *

In the hospital's lab, Sailor Mercury worked at her computer on another anti-bacterial compound. Her last six attempts had failed. If her failures continued, she would have to start cloning the bacteria samples she had in order to have test samples to work from.

"If only I knew a way to stop failing," Mercury whispered bitterly. Though she tried to keep it out of her mind, the image of Ryo Urawa expiring before her eyes continued to haunt her thoughts.

As she worked, Mercury noticed on the periphery of her vision that hospital personnel would continually enter and leave the lab, but not before lingering to get a look at her and what she was doing. Word had gotten around the hospital quickly that not only was the famous Sailor Mercury in the hospital lab, but that she was working on a potential cure for the mystery infection that had Japan in an uproar and was causing growing alarm along the Pacific rim. More than a few of the personnel who suddenly were in and out of the lab area had no business being there and had never set foot there before. Mercury tried to ignore them, but was increasingly aware of their presence, their hopes - - and their expectations.

Just then her senshi communicator signaled her. Emitting a frustrated sigh, Mercury engaged the device.

"Mercury?" Usagi inquired on the other end. "Mission accomplished. We got all the infected area - - I hope."

"Were there indications the bacteria had spread?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah. Oh, Mercury, it was horrible! Those poor birds and animals - - and all those plants and flowers just being burned alive!"

"I know, Usagi," Mercury murmured. "It couldn't be helped."

"Does this mean there won't be anymore cases?"

"If you obliterated all the bacteria, yes," Mercury confirmed. "If more cases of the respiratory infection show up, more drastic measures may have to be taken."

"I hope not," whimpered Usagi. "How are you doing?"

"Not well. I can't seem to come up with a formula that eradicates the bacterium without harming human cells in the process."

"You mean it can't be stopped?"

"It can be stopped. But if I give a living organism what I have now, they may suffer severe damage to their lungs. It could put them in permanent respiratory distress or worse."

There was silence for a beat.

"Well, you'll do it, Mercury," Usagi told her. "If anybody can, you can. You're the smartest person I've ever known. You'll find it, I know you will. You'll save Michiru and the others."

"Yes, no pressure at all," Mercury murmured, running her hand through her hair.

"Usagi, will you stop talking and concentrate on your driving!" Mercury heard Rei shout over the communicator.

"STOP BACKSEAT DRIVING!" bellowed Usagi.

"You're going to have an accident, scatter-brain!"

"I'd better let you go," Mercury said, smiling. "Mercury out."

After she closed the communicator face, Mercury pondered for a moment. Rei had obviously said that to get Usagi off the communicator. Had she sensed that Usagi's attempt to encourage Mercury was only putting more pressure on the senshi? It seemed impossible, but Mercury couldn't rule it out where Rei was concerned.

"Yes, if anybody can do it, I can," Mercury murmured as she began calculating a new formula. "After all, I'm the genius. I can figure out anything, can't I?"

And the ghost of Ryo Urawa loomed in her conscious thoughts once again.

* * *

Michiru was resting. She would close her eyes from time to time and Haruka waited on pins and needles until she opened them again. And every time she did, Haruka would struggle to maintain her brave front. She had to be strong for Michiru.

Then she felt a hand on her arm. Turning, she found Junko standing there. Haruka saw an earnest concern in the girl's eyes.

This must be what it's like to have family.

"How's she doing?" Junko asked, hoping for the best, fearing the worst. They'd come a long way in two days.

"Hanging in there," Haruka replied, trying to be upbeat both for Michiru's sake and for Junko's.

"They'll find a way to help her. Did you hear that Sailor Mercury is working on it?" Junko told her with a youthful optimism that Haruka could never recall having. Is this how she might have turned out if she hadn't chosen to run away from home? Or would the acrimony between her and her parents have spiraled so far out of control that it would have left her an emotional wreck or degenerated into violence.

"I don't think you're supposed to be here," Haruka said, hating every word out of her mouth.

"Mom tell you to say that?" Junko asked, trying to hide the hurt. Haruka didn't look at her. "She already had this talk with me. She said she didn't want me hanging around with you, that you were a bad influence."

Haruka stayed as silent as stone.

"Like I'm some kid or something! What does she think you're going to do to me, turn me into a lesbian? I like boys too much. Does she think you're going to trap me in a room and rape me or something?"

Unseen, Haruka winced.

"I wondered that too, at first," the teen continued. "But I've seen the way you are with her," and she nodded at Michiru. "I've never seen anybody love each other the way you two do. Nobody who can love that much is capable of doing bad things."

"Don't believe that," Haruka murmured.

"Look, stop it, huh!" Junko snapped. "You're not a bad person. I see that now. You might not be the friendliest person who ever lived, but Mom and Dad are wrong about you. And you're my sister. And I'll talk to you whenever I feel like it!"

"I just don't want you to get into trouble over me," Haruka said flatly.

"They don't own me," Junko stubbornly persisted.

"Yeah, but they're responsible for you," Haruka countered, looking directly at her, "for two more years, anyway. And they're just trying to protect you - - the best way they know how."

"Were they just protecting you the best way they knew how when you lived with them?"

Haruka's jaw hardened. "Yeah. Doesn't mean they were right, but . . ."

"And it doesn't mean they're right now," Junko persisted.

"Doesn't matter," Haruka said. "Their house, their rules."

"And if I choose to relocate, then," she began, but stopped when Haruka whirled on her.

"Don't!" the lanky blonde said, jabbing a finger at her. "Not for one minute. Don't you even think about it."

"Why not?" demanded Junko. "You did it!"

"And I paid for it! And I'm still paying for it! It's not the cure-all you think it is! It's tough and hard and scary. I lucked out and made it. Not every runaway does. It's a last resort, not a first option. And the older you get, the more you'll find out that you can't just run away from your problems, because they chase you down."

Junko glared up at her. Haruka felt a sense of deja vu looking at her. Michiru was right: there was an uncanny resemblance between them.

"Please don't fight," they heard Michiru say. Haruka looked to her with concern. Michiru's voice was so hoarse it was almost unrecognizable. "Junko-chan, Haruka's just trying to look out for you." The artist smiled weakly. "It's what sisters do."

A rush flooded through Haruka's body. She glanced timidly at Junko and saw the teen seemed slightly chastened. The teen glanced up at her and some of the fight returned to her eyes.

"OK, I won't leave home. It was just an option anyway," the girl grumbled. Then her jaw set. "But there are some things worth fighting for and I AM going to see you whenever I want to."

Amusement colored Haruka's features. "I wonder if I was this mule-headed at that age?"

"Worse," Michiru croaked out. A hint of a smile sprouted on Junko.

"Nobody asked you," Haruka mumbled.

"Don't worry, Kaioh-San, she's not going to drive me away," Junko smiled. "And I'd like to get to know you better, too - - once you're well."

"Well, if I can't stop you from coming," Haruka offered, "at least you'll know where I'll be."

Then she froze. Junko realized it after a beat. She sensed a presence and turned, fearing it was her mother. But it was a tall woman with green-black hair and eternally sad eyes.

"Please accept my apologies, Haruka," Setsuna said solemnly. "We are needed."

Junko looked back at Haruka, confused. She saw her sister was visibly torn. It was as if she understood the strange woman's words with a gravity that wasn't apparent to the teen, but she clearly didn't want to go. That part Junko understood. She only left her father's side to connect with Haruka, and only then when it was clear that his bi-pass was successful and he was out of danger. If Haruka was anything like she was, Junko understood what her dilemma was and could guess what her answer would be.

"Haruka," they all heard Michiru croak from her isolation room. Mechanically Haruka turned to her. "Go ahead."

Haruka stared at her, wanting to stay but unable to find the strength or courage to articulate it.

"You know what your duty is," Michiru persisted, ignoring the toll speaking was having on her strength. "I'll wait for you."

Haruka stared helplessly at her.

"Either here," Michiru gasped out, "or wherever I end up."

For a moment, Junko was afraid that Haruka would crumble into tiny pieces. Could love really drive a person to those extremes? She reflected once more on her father. If he was dying and she was needed elsewhere, elsewhere could just go to Hell. And that's what she expected Haruka to say, because Haruka's love for this beautiful green-tressed woman seemed to be so much deeper and stronger than anything she'd experienced in sixteen years on Earth.

Then her sister's body sagged and, head down, Haruka headed for the strange woman with the green-black hair.

"Haruka?" Junko gasped incredulously.

"Don't ask, kid," Haruka said gruffly.

She continued for the door, the other woman glancing at her with concern and sympathy. Junko's mind reeled. Then the teen made a decision and squared her shoulders.

"Haruka!" she called out.

Haruka paused at the door, but wouldn't face her.

"I'll stay with her," Junko said. "Do whatever it is you have to do."

Haruka didn't turn. She didn't move, though the other woman glanced back at her with a look of gratitude. Haruka stood perfectly still.

"Thank you," Haruka said, so softly that the teen barely heard it, "Junko."

Michiru noticed the small, proud smile sprout on the young girl's mouth. It brought back memories of another proud moment in another young blonde girl's life, one that she'd witnessed first hand. The memory lingered as Michiru drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Minako moaned like a little girl.

"I am so going to smack you," Rei fumed.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood up," Minako grumbled. "Everybody's so grim."

"I just slaughtered a grove full of trees," Rei said, her gaze locked ahead of her, "and the animals, birds and insects that lived there. Forgive me for not jumping for joy."

"That's OK. I'm sure all the people, birds, animals, et cetera, who you saved from being infected will do it for you," Minako said. Rei turned and locked eyes with her. When she read the earnest emotion beneath Minako's stony face, Rei turned back, chastened.

"I wish there'd been another way," Speed Racer Usagi mumbled as she expertly negotiated a turn.

"We all do," Minako told her. "Sometimes you got to do what you got to do and hope it accomplishes all the good you set out to accomplish."

They drove on in silence.

"I wonder how Ami's doing," Usagi wondered aloud.

"Knowing her, she's probably got the cure finished, Michiru cured and is writing her Nobel Prize acceptance speech," Minako postulated.

"If anybody can, she can," Rei said with admiration. Then she darkened. "But what if she can't?"

"Then we'd better hope we got all the bacteria back there," Minako pronounced. It was a grim thought for all. Just then, Minako's communicator signaled her.

"Minako?" Artemis asked through the communicator. "Where are you?" Minako looked to Usagi.

"We're about four kilometers away from the Tokyo city limits, Artemis," Usagi reported. "Is it Michiru?"

"No," the cat responded grimly. "I've got a long range sensor contact with a meteor - - and it's headed directly for Earth."

"Another one?" Usagi gasped.

"Big enough to do damage?" Minako asked.

"About as big as four city blocks," Artemis responded. "If something that big impacts Tokyo or some other populated area, it could do damage on the scale of Hiroshima."

A chill passed through the three women in the car.

"And here's the kicker," Artemis added. "I'm registering a sophisticated propulsion system in the back of it."

Continued in Chapter 10


	10. Who Is Haruka Tenoh

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 10: "Who is Haruka Tenoh?"

By Bill K.

Luna entered the apartment Minako shared with Toshihiro. She could hear Artemis typing on his computer. Cautiously she looked around to see if Toshihiro was home. Artemis had recently told her that Minako had finally gotten around to telling her significant other about him, and she wasn't sure how he'd feel about guests. Fortunately he seemed to be out. Heading for the bedroom, she found the white cat staring intently at his screen.

"What is it, Artemis?" she asked.

"I've got a huge meteor in a synchronous orbit with the moon positioned so it can't be observed by Earth-based telescopes," Artemis replied.

"That would be quite the random occurrence," Luna remarked. "Quite the million to one shot of a meteor falling just so in order to be snatched by the moon's gravity and placed in orbit."

"Which is more evidence that it's just disguised as a meteor," Artemis said. "I've already detected the propulsion system."

"A ship?" Luna asked. "Our alien visitors?"

"Right on both counts."

"Do they mean us ill?"

"Don't know yet, but they've detached a smaller meteor that's headed for Earth. I plotted the trajectory and sent the girls out to meet it. If it's another rock full of bacteria, they can take care of it before anyone else gets hurt. If it's more, then they should be there to greet them - - or stop them."

"Wise move," Luna nodded. "Have you been able to glean anything from the ship, if that's indeed what it is?"

"Nope. It's got some pretty sophisticated sensor shielding," Artemis scowled. "I'd like to know what we're up against, if anything. I suppose knowing what they plan is too much to ask for."

"Keep trying," Luna said. She leaned in and rubbed her chin against his. "Perseverance does have its rewards."

"That felt nice," leered Artemis. "Any chance of seconds?"

"Mind on your work," admonished Luna with a wry grin. She sat down as Artemis began typing again. "Do you suppose the outers have sensed this, too?"

"Wouldn't doubt it, not that they'll probably do much," Artemis said absently. "Michiru's still laid up, which means you won't be able to pry Haruka away from her side with tank support."

* * *

Junko glanced at the clock on the wall. Haruka had been gone several hours. The nurses at the Isolation Ward station had changed with the change of shift. Michiru was asleep now. She'd drifted in and out of consciousness several times, but now seemed to be sleeping - -somewhat peacefully.

And Haruka had been gone several hours now. That thought kept repeating in the young girl's brain no matter how much she tried to dispel or avoid it. The woman Haruka loved as deeply as life itself, deeper than anyone Junko had ever witnessed love another person before, was dying, and Haruka had left. They were like a storybook couple - - except for the genders - - and Haruka had left. Why, the teen wondered. What could be so important that it could rip her sister away from the side of her love in her time of need?

"Haruka," Junko heard Michiru say.

She glanced over at the woman. Michiru was restless, but still asleep.

"Haruka?" Michiru called out again.

Her voice was a soft, raspy whisper, barely audible. Only Junko was close enough to hear it. She concentrated on the face, the same face she remembered seeing on television and magazines, CD covers and posters. The eyes were still closed, but the features were pinched with emotion. Was she asleep?

"Maybe she's delirious," Junko wondered aloud. She turned to the nurse's station. "Um, Nurse? Could you check on Kaioh-San, please? I-I think she might be delirious."

"Yes, Ma'am, we know," the nurse replied. "It's a side-effect of the medication she's receiving."

"Well, can't you do something?"

"We've done all that we dare do, Ma'am," the nurse told her. "We can't discontinue the medicine she's receiving. That would do more harm than the delirium."

A helpless shudder passed through Junko. At sixteen, death had been a foreign concept to her. Now she'd had two brushes with it in a single week. It made her formerly secure place in this world feel no longer that secure. She glanced back at Michiru. The woman was squirming weakly in her bed, like she was trying to get away from something and get to something secure.

Haruka, probably. Feeling her eyes moisten, Junko leaned her head against the glass.

Selfishly Junko had wanted to talk to Michiru. She'd wanted to be able to say she'd talked to someone famous. But she also wanted to probe her about Haruka. For all that she had found out so far, Haruka Tenoh still remained a mystery to Junko. She felt a rapport with the woman fourteen years her senior, and yet it was a tenuous bond, a bond she wanted to strengthen and Haruka, possibly, didn't. And she wanted to know why. And Michiru might know, for she was probably the closest person on this planet to the mysterious Haruka Tenoh.

And if she died, Junko might never know.

"Haruka?" Michiru said again. It almost sounded like a little girl calling for her parents.

"Where are you, Haruka?" Junko wondered aloud. "You should be by her side, not me!"

But she wouldn't leave. Junko had vowed to stay and she would. The girl believed in living up to her commitments. It wasn't a trait taught to her, though her parents greatly admired it in her. It was a trait Junko had seen in others and felt the resonance when she saw it. So she imitated the trait whenever she could until it became her trait. She would wait by Michiru's side until Haruka returned, no matter what her parents might say. And maybe, when Haruka and Michiru were reunited, she might be able to glimpse one more clue into the mystery that was Haruka . . .

"I know, Haruka," Michiru mumbled, her face a grimace of anguish. "I know the world needs Sailor Uranus." She took a labored breath. "But I need you."

Junko stared. The mystery that was Haruka Tenoh just got a whole lot deeper.

* * *

The blue Fiat sports car sped along the highway headed out of Tokyo proper on a westerly course. Setsuna Meioh watched the scenery pass by the car on the left. Concerned, she glanced over at her partner, Haruka Tenoh. She could see Haruka was distracted, worrying over Michiru. That was natural. She didn't worry about Haruka's driving, for even distracted and worrying Haruka was still a better driver than she was - - probably better than anyone currently on the road. Though no destination had been exchanged between them, Setsuna knew Haruka knew where she was going, just as Setsuna knew by the sixth sense that was their weapon as outer senshi.

"What do you imagine we shall encounter?" Setsuna asked, probing lightly.

"Who knows," mumbled Haruka, her manner clipped and withdrawn in typical Haruka fashion.

"Do you think the aliens mean us harm?"

"Hope not," Haruka said, her eyes locked ahead of her. "I'd rather not have a prolonged battle. But one of theirs did die, so it wouldn't surprise me if they did."

Setsuna examined Haruka's face for the words the woman had left unsaid.

"I am sorry you had to leave Michiru's side," Setsuna ventured.

"Comes with the job," Haruka mumbled. "Michiru knows that. She knows it better than I do."

Setsuna's gaze dropped. "That girl that was with you in the hospital. She is related to you?"

Haruka glanced at her.

"The resemblance is quite striking," Setsuna explained.

"Junko," Haruka replied, returning to the road ahead of her. "The sister I never knew I had. She's not a bad kid - - in spite of who's raising her."

"Will you endeavor to establish a relationship with her?"

Haruka scowled. "I don't make plans that far ahead. Her parents don't think it's a good idea and I don't feel like butting heads with them again."

"A loss for you both," Setsuna replied.

"More my loss than hers."

Setsuna didn't reply. Instead, she turned and looked up into the sky. Haruka was already looking out of the corner of her eye. Over the tops of the plum trees, the sky was dark blue with dusk and dotted with puffy white clouds made gray by the reduced light. It had been the perfect day for the plum blossoms to bloom. Out of the northwest, a dot appeared in the sky. It grew larger as the two women gazed up at it. Within moments, the object grew to the point where they could see it was a meteor. The space debris grew larger, looming over the plum grove. Haruka and Setsuna raced along the road as the looming meteor grew closer and larger, closer and larger.

But the meteor didn't impact with the plum grove. When it was directly over the grove, the huge rock, which they could see was roughly seven meters across, passed above them. They could see that it was propelled by something other than the pull of Earth's gravity and moved on its own. The meteor, still smoldering red from its entry through Earth's atmosphere, streaked over their heads and continued on in a southeasterly direction. Haruka gunned the motor on the Fiat and sped in pursuit.

* * *

"What is it?" Mercury mused to herself in frustration as she stared at her computer screen. "What am I missing?"

And once more she felt the weight of expectations upon her shoulders. Lives were at stake, chief among them a dear friend. As she worked, Mercury's mind was haunted with visions of Michiru laying in her hospital bed, rasping for breath. She could see the other senshi staring at her expectantly, hopefully, Haruka most of all. She was, after all, the genius and she always came up with a miracle - - well, almost always.

Mixed in were memories of her mother, sternly examining her homework or her report card, never satisfied, always expecting more from her no matter how much she achieved. And there were the educators, always expecting the world from her just because her IQ was 300, never understanding when she let her concentration slip because she might have human emotions like fatigue or lust or boredom.

And, haunting her still, was the memory of Ryo Urawa's hand going lifeless as she held it.

"That's remarkable," Mercury heard someone say. She turned with a start and found an older doctor looking over her shoulder. He glanced at her and offered a timid smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's quite all right," Mercury sighed. She recognized him now as Dr. Nagashi, Michiru's attending physician from the Isolation Ward. "What's the latest on Kaioh-San and the others?"

"We had one more die," Nagashi reported. Mercury's spirits fell. "Kaioh-San is holding on. She's a remarkable woman - - a lot stronger than I expected her to be. But the sooner we can find a remedy to this infection, the less permanent damage there will be."

"Agreed," Mercury nodded and returned to her screen.

"Do you have medical training?" Nagashi asked.

"Why?" Mercury asked absently, concentrating on the formula before her.

"This is," Nagashi stammered, staring at the screen, "I've never seen micro-biology this advanced! You've got an antibiotic formula here that's as radical as anything I've ever encountered! Nobody has even begun to crack this new strain of bacteria and you've already got an antidote!"

"An antidote that's as deadly to the human host as it is to the bacterium," Mercury replied. "In this form it isn't much use to anyone."

"Don't say that," the elder doctor told her. "You've made a tremendous accomplishment here, young lady. It would have taken months, maybe years to achieve this amount of progress. Think of how much of a leg up you've given to medical research."

"I'm sure that will be little comfort to Haruka," Mercury said as she stared at the screen. Almost to herself, she said, "What can I do to make this less toxic?"

Dr. Nagashi peered over her shoulder. "I assume Haruka is the tall woman haunting the Iso Ward? Yes, I doubt she'll take Kaioh-San's death well from what I've observed. Still, as tragic as that is, you mustn't blame yourself. You're doing all you can."

Mercury felt her eyes water. She was grateful for the words, even though they would be of little help to her if Michiru did die like Ryo had.

"Have you considered diluting the potency of the formula by fifty percent?" Nagashi asked her.

"Diluted?" Mercury asked. "That would reduce the compound's effectiveness."

"Yes," the old doctor nodded patiently. "But as it is now you're trying to knock out the infection in one blow. Suppose you only try to weaken the infection to the point where the body's natural defenses can aid the antibiotic in eradicating the infection."

Mercury stared at the screen.

"Recovery will take longer, but the toxicity will be reduced to more acceptable levels," Nagashi explained. "You may lose one or more of the weaker patients, but you'll save the stronger ones."

Furiously Mercury began typing on her computer. The results that came up filled her with elation.

"Yes!" Mercury exclaimed. "Yes, that could work! Why didn't I see it?"

"Perhaps you were too close to the problem," Dr. Nagashi offered. "Perhaps you were trying too hard. I know death is hard to accept sometimes. It's even harder for us doctors. Losing a patient can cause you to question your ability. It's a great amount of pressure to deal with - - though I'm sure a renowned hero like yourself knows about performing under pressure."

Mercury hit a key and a nearby printer came to life.

"This formula I'm printing should work," Mercury told him. "I know it isn't tested beyond computer simulation . . ."

"But there's hardly time for that," Dr. Nagashi nodded. "They're dying anyway. How much worse can we make it? Just don't mention it to the hospital's lawyers."

Dr. Nagashi picked up the formula and was about to leave. But his hand was captured by a pair of white gloves. He looked back at the famous Sailor Mercury.

"Thank you, Doctor," Mercury said earnestly. "What you said really meant a lot to me."

"A small price in exchange for this," he shrugged, waving the formula. With that, he turned and hurried out. Mercury's gaze followed him.

"Please work," she whispered.

* * *

Minako's red car careened down a country road above the speed limit. That was hardly an unusual sight, as Minako was known to favor high speeds - - when her license wasn't under suspension. But this time there was a great deal more skill to the car's maneuvers than Minako had ever demonstrated. It was because Usagi, in her race car driver disguise, was still behind the wheel.

"Wow, you're really handling this road, Usagi," Minako remarked from the back seat. "You're really good at this in this disguise."

"Haruka's better," Usagi shrugged.

"How would you know?" Rei asked, an eyebrow arched.

"We go driving a lot," Usagi said innocently.

"Oh really?" Minako remarked with a cheshire grin.

"Get your mind out of the gutter!" huffed Usagi. "Haruka's just being nice!"

"OH, I'M SURE!" Rei and Minako said in unison, each woman glancing at the other with malicious glee.

"Oh, shut up!" Usagi growled. "You two are such a pair of old gossips!"

"Boy, that's the pot calling the kettle black," Rei grinned.

"STOP PICKING ON ME!" Usagi bellowed. The other two only laughed.

The laughter was muted, though, when the whine of something streaking through the air came directly over the car. The backwash threatened to send the car onto the berm and Usagi struggled to keep it on the road. Rei rolled down the window and stuck her head out.

"That was a meteor!" Rei gasped. "Do you suppose it's the one Artemis warned us about?"

"How many meteors are there flying over the Japanese countryside?" Minako replied. "Can you see where its headed?"

"It banked off to the left," Rei reported.

"That's going to take it near the impact crater," Minako realized. "Probably looking for the first meteor ship."

Without any impetus from anyone else, Usagi gunned the car forward. They traveled until there was no more road to follow. Usagi pulled onto the berm and stopped. The three women got out.

"Sun's almost down," Rei said, glancing at the sky.

"I can find my way in the dark," Minako remarked, then glanced at Usagi for a final decision.

Usagi nodded. Three henshin sticks came out. And three sailor senshi ventured into the darkening brush adjacent to the fenced-in land of a local farm.

Continued in Chapter 11


	11. Judgment

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 11: "Judgment"

By Bill K.

As night began to fall on the rural prefect that had in the last few days witnessed a lifetime's worth of turmoil, a National Security Force soldier looked out over the countryside. The impact crater of the meteor still lay open, ringed by caution tape and a few remaining science vehicles. They remained, hoping to draw the last bit of information from the gaping wound in the otherwise serene countryside. They had life again once it had been determined that there was no longer a fear of contamination from the area. The scientists within worked with heavy hearts, though, for two of their number remained hospitalized with the peculiar respiratory ailment that had gripped the nation with fear. A third had already died.

The soldier's gaze shifted to the right of the crater. The glen that had been there still gave off a faint acrid scent, the way charred wood always did. Like a cauterized wound, the roughly circular area near the impact crater sat blackened and lifeless. The soldier reflected on this. Nature would reclaim it eventually, but until then it would remain barren cinders.

Just then a noise caught his senses. The sentry at the roadblock turned to the sound and peered into the wooded glen that had been spared Sailor Mars' cleansing pyre. Something had moved in there. He continued to stare. It could have been anything: animals still roamed these woods, despite all the destruction, because they really didn't have anywhere else to go. And the local kids were often seen in and around the blockade perimeter, despite warnings from both the soldiers and their parents, for kids thought themselves invulnerable until proven otherwise. But he had to be sure it wasn't something else. That was his job.

He continued to stare. Then there was another sound, farther off. Something was passing through the brush on the run. It sounded too large to be a fox or a raccoon. A bear, perhaps? Hard to believe, but possible. At any rate, it was moving away from the perimeter. That was all he needed to know.

Another bush brushed against Sailor Pluto as she tried to keep pace with Sailor Uranus. As usual, Uranus set a difficult pace to match. They ran through the wooded glen following their sense of the alien craft, masked as a meteor. The craft no longer moved and the outer senshi mistrusted the intent of those inside.

"Carefully, Uranus," Pluto called out as quietly as she could. "We are nearing our target."

"I feel it," Uranus called back.

The woman slowed and stopped at a group of trees surrounding a clearing. Pluto caught her and looked out onto it. In the clearing, a plowed field growing sweet potatoes, the meteor hovered above the ground. It was two meters above ground, still smoldering from its entry through Earth's atmosphere. Pluto could feel the tension of her partner without touching her.

"What are they waiting for?" Uranus wondered.

"Perhaps to be certain there is no danger to themselves," offered Pluto. "Curious that this flight has attracted no attention from the government, given that there is a detachment of National Security Forces nearby."

"Some sort of camouflage?" Uranus asked her. "Then how do we see it? And why was the other one spotted right off?"

"I can offer answers to neither question," Pluto replied. "I merely make the observation. Clearly the government would be here if they were aware of it. And it would further indicate their caution."

"They're afraid of us?" Uranus wondered aloud. "Or are they pulling a sneak attack?"

"Of what strategic value would there be to attacking a field of sweet potatoes?"

"Who knows?" frowned Uranus. "Maybe that's how this bug that infected Michiru works. Maybe that's their plan. Kill off all the population with disease and then take over the planet without opposition."

Their speculation hushed when a fissure appeared near the bottom of the meteor. Miraculously the rock parted and a tube extended from the bottom of the meteor to the ground. The tube gave off an unearthly yellow-green glow for several moments. Then the tube retracted, leaving several shadowy forms behind. Cautiously the forms moved out from that point. When they emerged from the shadow of the meteor, Uranus and Pluto could better see them.

In every detail they were like the alien the outers had previously encountered. They had the same physiology and wore the same environmental suits and encompassing helmets. There were four of them in total, each one carrying a device. The lead alien had a metallic shaft about a meter long. The alien took several steps away from the group.

"It's going to stick that metal shaft into the ground," Uranus said. She stepped forward into the clearing. Pluto's hand shot out and held her back.

"Is a confrontation wise at this moment?" Pluto asked.

"We have to assume what they're doing is hostile," Uranus retorted sharply. "I'm not going to let anyone else end up like Michiru."

Shaking Pluto's hand off, Uranus stalked into the open. She walked with a determined gait, intent on communicating through her posture her confidence in her ability to stop her adversary's actions. Reluctantly Pluto followed. The aliens were less likely to attack two senshi, nor were they likely to flank two. And if they didn't attack, Uranus would have no reason to do so.

"HOLD IT!" Uranus called out belligerently. Startled by the senshi's presence, the aliens froze in place and eyed her cautiously. "I'm not going to permit you to do what you intend to do here!"

Pluto's gaze went from Uranus to the aliens. She doubted they could understand what Uranus was saying, unless they possessed an unheard of linguistic sophistication. But the hostility of the senshi's body language was a universal language, it seemed. Both parties stood at a standoff.

* * *

As she paced, Junko glanced at the clock. It was approaching seven. The teen sighed impatiently.

Boredom had long ago set in. Michiru had stopped hallucinating and was resting. The respirator taped into her mouth had also quieted her ramblings. Junko had turned away when they did that. The vibrant woman she'd seen just a few days ago hugging her sister looked so frail and beaten. Junko glanced back at her and, unbidden, memories of Michiru calling out her sister's name returned.

"What could be happening?" Junko wondered, glancing again at the clock. "Is she out being Sailor Uranus? Is she in trouble?"

"Junko," came the voice behind her, that of her mother. Junko closed her eyes out of frustration, because she was afraid she knew what was coming. "I thought I asked you not to associate with this woman."

"Don't call her 'this woman', OK," Junko scowled. "Haruka is my sister. I haven't disowned her."

"You are still my daughter and you will obey me," Himeko Tenoh said. Her gaze was steely and, though her daughter dwarfed her, she wouldn't back down.

"Excuse me," interceded the duty nurse. "A hospital ward is not the place for this."

"Please forgive me," Himeko replied, bowing to the nurse with mannered formality.

"It's nine o'clock anyway," the nurse continued. "I'm going to have to ask you both to leave."

"But," Junko began, stricken.

"Come along, Junko," her mother told her.

"But I promised Haruka I'd stay with Kaioh-San!"

"Miss," the nurse said patiently, "no visitors are allowed in the ward after nine p.m. Tenoh-San wouldn't expect you to stay past the time when even she'd have to leave. We'll take good care of Kaioh-San."

Her face scrunched up in disappointment, but Junko gave in and left. Himeko followed her out. The two women walked down the hall slowly, not looking at each other.

"I know you think I'm being harsh," Himeko said at last. "I'm only doing it to protect you."

"Protect me from what?" snorted Junko.

"Protect you from her," Himeko reiterated. "Protect you from that lifestyle she leads. Consorting with women, driving race cars, acting like a man - - it's not right."

Junko's jaw set into a scowl.

"Junko, you're a good girl," Himeko continued. "You're bright and honest and dedicated. That business just now in the ward, when you didn't want to leave because you felt you'd be going back on your word. That's so you, Junko, and it's one of the things that makes me proudest of you."

The teen's scowl softened.

"I know you're curious about - - her - - and it's only natural. But it's easy to get sucked into it. They tempt you with honey-coated lies and prey on a girl's curiosity, then suck you in."

"Mom," sighed Junko.

"I already lost one daughter," the woman mewled. "I don't want to lose another."

"Mom, you're wrong about her," Junko maintained.

"It's a crime against nature!"

"Mom, I'm not talking about Haruka's lifestyle. I'm talking about her. Haruka is a good person. She doesn't kill people and she doesn't seduce little girls at the primary school. She's led a real interesting life and yet she's not stuck up about it. And - - and she's my sister."

"Junko," Himeko said with finality. "I forbid you to see her and that is final."

"Mom, that is so not fair! You haven't listened to a word I said!"

"Yes I have. You just haven't said anything to convince me that I'm wrong. Now come along. You can still say good night to your father."

"Thanks for seeing my side of it," Junko grumbled. She loved her mother, but she hated talking to her mother when the woman's mind was closed.

Suddenly the teen understood a part of her sister just a little bit more.

* * *

The area was rife with tension. Pluto felt it. Uranus felt it. The aliens felt it, too, if they were capable of perceiving such things. Nobody moved and everybody stared. Uranus was ready to attack at the slightest flinch, and that at least the aliens seemed to understand.

"What now?" Pluto asked, her eyes never leaving the aliens lest they make a threatening move.

"Now I stop them from hurting anyone else," Uranus replied, her eyes also locked on the aliens.

"Which you have accomplished. Did you plan to hold them at bay for the rest of time?"

"I didn't get that far, OK? You got any ideas?"

"Given how little I know about them or their intentions, I fear not," Pluto remarked. "I would, however, caution against a direct strike. Recall that they are quite fragile."

"Yeah? It would serve them right for attacking," Uranus shot back.

"And potentially cause to occur what you intended to prevent."

"What are you talking about?" Uranus hissed

"The bacterial contamination," Pluto replied flatly. "The one that infected eight people, including Michiru. Was it intentionally planted, or was it caused by the decomposition of the alien - - the alien that you killed?"

Uranus felt her blood pressure drop to almost zero.

"Y-You mean . . .?" Uranus stammered.

"There is as yet no way to determine which is true," Pluto told her. "Therefore you must temper your next move with that fact."

As her mind raced, Uranus searched her thoughts, reflecting over the fateful events of the initial confrontation. She couldn't be responsible for what happened to Michiru - - could she?

But as her gaze dropped with introspection, the lead alien slowly moved the rod until it was horizontal in his hands. His hands slid along the shaft while his arms remained extended until the two hands were pressed together in the center of the shaft. Uranus noticed none of this.

Pluto did.

"Dead Scream," she spoke, her staff raising above her head. A sonic blast exploded from the Ruby Orb atop the staff and shot for the contingent of aliens. Fortunately for them, Pluto meant it only as a warning shot. It struck about a meter in front of the lead alien, chewing up a hole in front of it and kicking up dirt. The aliens fell back a step defensively, then froze and warily watched the two senshi.

"Don't hurt them!" Sailor Moon called out. Everyone glanced over and saw Sailor Moon and the senshi, minus Mercury and Jupiter, emerging from another part of the woodland barrier to the sweet potato field.

"My Princess!" Pluto said urgently. "Stay back! We do not yet know the danger!"

"Holy crap, they are spacemen!" gasped Venus.

Sailor Moon was set to ignore Pluto's warning, but Mars reached in and stopped her. The three senshi stood, aliens to their left and Pluto and Uranus to their right. Everybody eyed everyone else nervously. The aliens seemed more agitated than ever.

"I can't sense anything from them!" Mars exclaimed. "I can't read them! The impressions - - don't make any sense!"

"What are they here for?" Venus asked.

"They seemed to be doing something with that metal shaft," Pluto explained. "What, we have no way of determining."

"Maybe I can make them understand," Sailor Moon said.

Shaking Mars off, Sailor Moon stepped forward two paces. Some of the aliens regarded her warily while others kept watch on Uranus and Pluto. Sailor Moon smiled and spread her hands out from her body.

"Hello," Sailor Moon said sweetly. "My name is Sailor Moon. We don't mean to harm you. We'd like to be your friends. Do you understand? Friends."

The lead alien responded with a shrill series of chirps and clicks. At once the noise became too much for them and the senshi recoiled, holding their hands to their ears.

Concluded in Chapter 12


	12. To Understand

ISLAND LIFE

Chapter 12: "To Understand"

By Bill K.

The sonic waves split the evening, knifing through the ears of the senshi. Each one cringed reflexively as pain shot through their heads.

"Ahhh! It hurts!" wailed Sailor Moon.

"What are they doing to us?" Mars grimaced.

"DAMN IT!" Venus bellowed through her agony. "VENUS! LOVE AND BEAUTY . . .!"

And the noise stopped. Slowly the five senshi rose up from their protective crouches and looked at the aliens. The visitors from space stood and watched them warily.

"Guess they showed that they can defend themselves," Mars gasped out, her hand to her temple. "You all right, Sailor Moon?"

"Feels like my brain is pudding," moaned Sailor Moon. Then she gave Mars a fisheye look, but Mars was too involved with the aliens to take the straight line.

"So now what?" asked Venus. "Do we just let them go?"

"No!" Uranus replied sharply. All eyes turned to her, even some of the alien eyes. "You let them go and they'll have the opportunity to contaminate more of the planet!"

"We don't know if that's their intention!" pleaded Sailor Moon.

"It's already happened!" Uranus roared. "They're not human, Sailor Moon! Stop assuming they think like humans!"

"But what if they're peaceful? What if . . .?"

"Why were they using that sonic weapon if they were peaceful? What were they going to do with that metal rod? Do you want to risk more people ending up like Michiru?"

"If only we could communicate with them," Mars scowled.

And a light went on in Sailor Moon's eyes. Her senshi saw her raise her right hand. The aliens crouched defensively, but they need not have worried. In her hand, she held the Disguise Pen.

"Moon Power! Make me into a beau . . ." and she glanced at Mars with chagrin, "into an alien just like the ones before me!"

The sweet potato patch was bathed in a radiant light. When it dissipated, another alien creature in an environmental suit stood where Sailor Moon had been. All the senshi reacted with surprise, even Pluto - - but not nearly as much as the four aliens did.

Immediately the lead alien began emitting the shrill chirps and clicks again. The senshi recoiled, Uranus and Mars prepared to launch attacks to protect Sailor Moon as they cringed. But Sailor Moon in turn began emitting the same sounds, though at a softer level. To the wonderment of the other senshi, the lead alien lowered its level as well. The two quickly entered into a protracted conversation with each other.

"I don't believe it," mumbled Uranus.

"Think she's getting through to them?" Venus posed.

"She is the Princess," Pluto said proudly. She almost seemed to be smiling - - almost.

After a lengthy wait, the conversation between the two beings finally ended. Sailor Moon backed up two paces, then let her disguise fade. She emitted a shuddering sigh.

"Sailor Moon?" Mars asked with concern.

"I think that's the hardest disguise I've ever had to maintain!" she wheezed. She took a breath to steady herself. "They're not our enemies."

"They told you that?" Uranus asked suspiciously.

"They only came to Earth in search of the first one," Sailor Moon explained. "He was taking readings of the planet for their data banks when his ship became disabled and crashed on Earth. They said they were trying to retrieve him," and she glanced down, "before he contaminated our world."

"THEN IT WAS THEIR FAULT!" snarled Uranus. "THEY DID THIS TO MICHIRU!"

"Uranus!" Sailor Moon said, grasping the senshi's forearm. "It wasn't their intent. They said they wear those suits to prevent accidental contamination of other species. And because their own bodies can't survive the nitrogen in our air. They came to rescue their fellow alien, but also to make sure his suit hadn't been damaged and our planet wasn't contaminated. They were genuinely terrified of what might happen if his body was exposed to our environment, both for his sake - - and for ours."

Uranus was just staring off into space.

"So," the towering senshi croaked out, "if I - - if I hadn't assumed it was hostile - - hadn't fired on it . . ." The lanky woman's legs buckled underneath her and Uranus sank to the ground, sitting amid sweet potato furrows, staring into space with silent, growing agony. Tears welled in Sailor Moon's eyes.

"Um," Venus ventured, "do they know the other one is dead?"

"Yes," Sailor Moon nodded. "I told them. I told them it was an accident - - that Uranus didn't mean to kill him."

"What did they say?" Venus asked.

Sailor Moon bit her lip. "They said - - to convey their condolences to Uranus for the burden she has to bear for the rest of her existence." Sailor Moon sniffed. "Those were his exact words."

"They don't want revenge?" Mars asked.

"They consider vengeance beneath them," Sailor Moon replied, a grateful smile coloring her lips. "They're a very peaceful people. Their biggest concern was not hurting us. That's why they avoided contact with us. They didn't know how we'd react."

"Pretty smart, given what's happened," Mars nodded.

"Do they have a cure for the contamination?" Pluto ventured.

Sailor Moon darkened. "No. That's why they were in such a hurry. They didn't know how our bodies would react to bacteria from their world."

Turning away from her senshi, Sailor Moon walked over to the lead alien. They all no longer viewed her with suspicion. When she was about two feet away, she stopped and bowed at the waist to him. The alien in turn made several gestures to her that elicited a radiant grin from her. Sailor Moon gave them a small wave. The aliens returned to the tube and were sucked up into their ship. Once the tube retracted, the meteor banked right, then angled up into the night sky, headed for space.

As this happened, Sailor Pluto knelt down next to Sailor Uranus. Tears streamed down the normally hardened face of the lanky blonde.

"Uranus?" Pluto prodded.

"I killed her," Uranus whispered vacantly. "I killed Michiru, as sure as if I'd slit her throat."

"My friend," Pluto began.

"They were aliens. I just assumed they were hostile. And I let my assumptions destroy the most precious thing in the universe!"

"That is not necessarily so, my friend," Pluto counseled her. "Do you recall that during our search for the alien, we noticed some sticky yellowish residue upon the ground and leaves of the brush. I am convinced his environmental suit was damaged in the crash and the residue was blood or some other fluid from the wounded alien. It is quite likely that Michiru was already contaminated before you attacked the alien."

Uranus glanced up at Pluto, her reddened eyes needing to hope that her colleague was right. Pluto returned the glance with steadying reassurance. And out of the blue Uranus bolted to her feet. She ran off toward where the Fiat was parked at a speed none of the others could hope to match. The senshi just stared after her.

"My Princess," Pluto said to Sailor Moon, "forgive me if this is a burden to you, but I believe I will have to make the return trip to Tokyo in your car."

After fifteen of the longest minutes of her life, Haruka Tenoh parked her Fiat, rode the elevator to the Isolation Ward floor and barreled out. She flew down the hall, broke open the door to the ward with a running shoulder block and burst into the ward. As the surprised duty nurses looked on, the woman skidded to a stop in front of the observation window to Michiru's room.

The bed was empty.

Her consciousness swirling around her, Haruka stared at the crisply made bed. A yawning chasm of despair and utter emptiness opened up before her. She wasn't sure she had the strength any longer to keep from toppling in and she wasn't sure she wanted to. Emotion began to twist her insides into a gigantic knot at the prospect of going on without Michiru. But why go on? What did it matter? What did anything matter?

"Tenoh-San," Haruka heard someone say. The person touched her arm. She looked blankly at one of the duty nurses. "Kaioh-San has been released from isolation. I'll take you to her new room."

Haruka barely resisted the urge to kiss the woman on the mouth.

It seemed to happen in a blur. One moment she was staring down at the smiling nurse. The next moment she was peeking in through the door of a private room. Laying in the bed was Michiru. She was asleep and still hooked to a respirator, but her monitor showed her heart still beat and her blood still flowed.

"The treatment is going to take a while," the nurse told Haruka, "and she's going to need some recovery time. But the doctor is very optimistic."

Without asking, Haruka stepped forward into the room. The nurse quietly closed the door. When she reached the side of Michiru's bed, Haruka sank to her knees. Grasping the sheets in two fists, the woman buried her face into the side of the mattress. Kneeling next to the most precious thing in her life, Haruka Tenoh cried and she cried and all she could think to do was cry some more from the relief and joy she was experiencing.

Then she felt something brush her hair. Haruka looked up and saw Michiru was awake and stroking her sandy hair. Haruka gently grasped the hand and pressed her lips to the soft palm. The tapered fingers lovingly wrapped around the side of Haruka's cheek.

* * *

A sound woke Haruka. After a moment's disorientation, she recovered enough of her wits to recognize her surroundings. She was sitting in a chair in Michiru's hospital room. There was some light in the room, filtered by the blinds on the windows, but she could tell there was a bright sun in the morning sky. A nurse was up by the head of Michiru's bed, changing the IV bags. She turned and looked at Haruka.

"My goodness, Ma'am, did you sleep in that chair all night?" the nurse asked. She was a slim woman with black hair, probably fresh out of college. Any other time, Haruka might have flirted with her.

"That's what my back is telling me," grunted Haruka as she leaned forward stiffly. "Sorry if I violated the rules."

"Well, the head nurse must have felt it was all right or she would have run you out of here by now. But if you're going to try a stunt like that again, you might want to use that instead of the chair." She nodded to the empty bed that shared the room with Michiru.

"Sounds like a good idea," Haruka grinned sheepishly. She nodded to the IV bag. "What's that?"

"Kaioh-San's breakfast," the nurse smiled. "She can't eat solid food with that respirator in her mouth, so she's going to have to take it intravenously for a while."

"How long does she have to be on that thing?"

"You'd have to ask Dr. Nomura that," she replied diplomatically. "But she seems to be breathing a lot more easily now. I wouldn't think it would be too much longer."

Haruka found comfort in those words. What she found more comfort in was Michiru's eyes opening. After a moment of searching, she found Haruka and locked onto her. The delicate hand of the artist reached out. Haruka caught it and the two hands squeezed tight. The young nurse retreated as quietly as possible.

"Sorry for getting all teary," Haruka said, feeling her eyes misting again. "It's just - - I came so close - - and it would have been all my fault . . ."

She felt Michiru squeeze harder on her hand. The woman shook her head, restricted as it was by the respirator and puddled in green hair that was beginning to grow yellow at the roots. Once more Haruka felt unworthy of this goddess on Earth, and once more she felt so utterly grateful that this goddess looked upon her with favor.

"Ma'am," the nurse said, pausing at the door, "I think Kaioh-San has some other visitors."

Haruka turned to the door. Peering in were Usagi, Rei, Makoto and Minako. Makoto was balancing young Akiko on her shoulder. Haruka grinned and waved them in.

"How's she doing?" ventured Rei while the others huddled around the bed.

"Doc says he's optimistic," Haruka told them. "He says it's going to take a while, but I can see she's a lot stronger now than she was yesterday."

Pulling herself away with some difficulty from her love, Haruka walked over and grasped Usagi's hand.

"Thank you all for helping her," Haruka said hoarsely. "And thank you for stopping me, Dumpling. You were right about them. If you hadn't shown up, I probably would have destroyed them all - - and then we'd all be doomed."

"We all make mistakes, Haruka," Usagi smiled with supreme charity and humility.

"And she's the expert on that," Rei added slyly amid twitters from the others. Even Michiru's eyes twinkled.

"The thing is to concentrate on all the good you've done and not dwell on the bad," Usagi continued, ignoring the priest. "Michiru's recovery is just as much your doing as anyone. You were there for her, night and day. You helped her be strong through her darkest time. She couldn't have done it without you - - none of us could have."

Glancing from Usagi, Haruka picked up Michiru's face. Her love nodded her agreement.

"Hell, I'm going to start crying again!" Haruka cursed, turning away from the gathering. Everyone got a nice laugh from that, too.

"Is this a private party or can anyone join?" they heard Ami venture. The doctor was standing in the doorway of the room, dressed in her hospital uniform of tight navy skirt and heels, white blouse and white lab coat. Her eyes peered over her glasses and she wore a warm grin. "I'm on my break between rounds and I thought I'd peek in . . ."

"AMI!" Usagi squealed. She raced across the room, trapped Ami in a bear hug and dragged the woman into the room. "Oh, Ami, you are just the genius of geniuses! I knew you'd find a cure, I just knew it!"

"Yeah, way to go, Ames," Makoto said. Akiko chortled happily upon recognizing Ami.

"Knew you'd come through," Rei nodded.

"Hey, that's the way it always works," Minako added. "Brilliant doctor hero always finds the cure in the next to last reel."

She was about to reply, but Ami suddenly found Haruka looming over her. The woman reached out and gratefully seized her hand.

"Thank you," Haruka choked out. "I'm going to be in your debt forever."

"You're quite welcome, Haruka," Ami said. "But I can't claim total credit for this. I received a valuable assist from Dr. Nagashi during my research."

"But it was mostly you, Ami," Usagi said. "And you were worried about whether you were as good a doctor as everyone thought. Now do you see that Ryo-kun was just - - one of those unfortunate things that happen in life - - that his death wasn't your fault?"

Ami looked down for a moment. Then she lifted her head and some of the melancholy that had been there once wasn't there now.

"Yes, Usagi. I think I see that now," Ami nodded. "Thank you."

Usagi lunged and caught Ami in another crushing hug. Ami glanced from her to the grateful expression on Michiru's face - - and felt the ghost of Ryo Urawa fade from her shoulder.

Just a little bit.

* * *

In the hospital cafeteria, Haruka Tenoh sat and absently ate her meal. Michiru's prognosis was good. The other senshi had returned to their lives. Her sponsor had called, inquiring as to when Haruka planned to resume her racing career. It was already hard to believe she had come so close to losing everything. The euphoria of the near miss had worn off and Haruka felt drained - - grateful, but drained.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Haruka looked up. It was Junko. On her tray was a banana, a box of fruit juice and a package of cookies.

"Mom might. I don't," Haruka responded.

"Well Mom's not here, is she?" Junko responded as she sat down.

"What kind of a lunch is that?" fussed Haruka. "You don't eat enough to keep a fly alive."

"Why is it whenever we talk, you always have to lecture me at least once?" Junko shot back. "Just because you're my big sis doesn't mean you know everything."

"I know one thing: You're supposed to respect your elders!" Haruka groused. "Just where did you get that mouth?"

"Probably the same place you did," Junko smirked.

Haruka sighed, but she couldn't keep the grin off her face.

"So how soon until I can visit Kaioh-San?" Junko asked. "I want to ask her if there are any embarrassing moments in your life."

"You know Mom and Dad aren't going to like that. Don't court trouble."

"Oh, Mom and Dad, Mom and Dad! Honestly, sometimes I think they're just jealous and hateful! I wish I . . ."

Junko stopped when she felt Haruka's hand on hers.

"Junko," Haruka said with ominous seriousness. The teen quieted. "You may think most of my advice isn't worth a hundred yen coin and you'd probably be right. But if you don't listen to anything else I say, listen to this: Don't assume things about people and don't base your actions only on those assumptions. Because if those assumptions are wrong, you could end up destroying everything in your life that you love."

"Like Mom and Dad did?" Junko asked.

Haruka thought for a moment. "I guess. You're pretty smart for a kid."

"I'm not a kid!"

"Yeah. Sorry," Haruka smiled, dropping her eyes. She thought a moment, then got up. "I got to go, Junko. It's nothing personal. It's just - - it's been a whole half hour since I've been with Michiru. You know how it is."

"Yeah," grinned the teen. She brushed some blonde hair from her eyes. "I'll be seeing you, huh?"

"Sure," the lanky woman nodded. "Thanks for staying with Michiru."

"No charge," Junko replied. "Give her my best."

Haruka nodded and headed off. Junko sat and thought as she peeled her banana.

"That was some pretty heavy stuff she was talking about just now," mused the girl. "I wonder what happened when she was off being Sailor Uranus." Junko paused, a bite of the banana in her mouth. "I don't know what's harder to get used to: that I've got a sister or that she's also Sailor Uranus." She paused and took a bite. "I wonder if I should tell her that I know?"

THE END


End file.
